30 Years Have Passed Since the Prologue

The best way to solve most problems in society is, of course, to eliminate their root causes. However, not all social problems are of a kind that can be eliminated, and in such cases, the ruling class typically tries to divert public attention by singling out specific groups within society. (In this field, authoritative figures such as Hitler, Stalin, and Mao Zedong existed.)

It’s an act of attributing the costs and public anger caused by social problems to tangible targets. Almost all defeated countries had to resort to such acts very frequently. This is because blaming the lower class rather than blaming the ruling class leads to less cost expenditure.

The most common excuse is ‘there were traitors within.’

To complicate matters further, it’s often twisted into ‘it was due to the overwhelming abilities of a specific individual, not because the enemies were superior or we were inferior.’ (Japan actually built a shrine for Admiral Yi Sun-sin after the Imjin War.)

Idealizing the enemy surprisingly helps solidify internal cohesion. It goes something like, ‘Our preparations and plans were perfect, but it just happened that our opponent was XX.’

This mentality is shared by almost all demon races that have been defeated by the Hero Party. It’s the kind of mindset that says, ‘They even managed to slay the Demon King, so what chance do we stand?’

The problem lies in the fact that the dwarves did not directly clash with the Hero Party. (This is because they were tasked with rear support, or infiltration behind enemy lines.)

Therefore, the dwarf leadership created another ‘overwhelming adversary.’ They frequently clashed, even managing to kill their leader, the Dragon General, who inflicted tangible damage on the dwarves.

The Lone Tarantula. Lieutenant Ivan Petrovich. The Dagger of Krasilov, the Executioner of the Great King, the Lumberjack, and the Despair of the Dwarven Intelligence Division.

There are certain considerations to keep in mind when creating such ‘adversaries.’ One is that if the adversary is still active, there is a danger that the entire nation could be engulfed in a sense of defeat.

In that regard, the dwarf leadership could rest easy. Lieutenant Ivan Petrovich died alongside the Dragon General Abiditas. The despicable fellow who was a pain to look at ended up entwined in death with the one they wanted to tear apart.

Now they could comfortably attempt to ‘idolize the evil.’

What? Food shortage? It’s Ivan again!

What? Goblins causing trouble? It’s Ivan again!

What did you say? All trade routes are blocked? It’s Ivan again!!

From job instability, population decline, extreme deterioration of national production, bankruptcy of numerous military factories, to the increasing gap between the rich and the poor.

In the face of all societal problems typical of defeated nations, shouting “It’s Ivan again!” and then returning to being docile workers would be, to the champions of mediocrity, akin to a kind of scapegoat reporting.

And those present here are paying that price.

Not a conceptual price like societal problems, but a stark, tangible, physical price that has been ruthlessly forged. (It’s unfair. When the leadership sold out Ivan’s name, they did not join the rebels.)

“Ivan Petrovich… is… again!”

As the lifeless body of the dwarf hung on a pole in the middle of the street, the headquarters of the 3rd Supply District was gripped by terror.

In an age where resurrecting the dead is generally not feasible, after signing an MOU with the faction known as the epitome of necromancy (necromancy), the most terrible resurrection awaited them.

***

In Ivan’s opinion, he is not playing the most crucial role in this mission. (Certainly not the dwarves. They just need to march, and that’s it. Ivan never expected moles to play a human role in the first place.)

While loosely named the “Castle Raid,” its essence extends beyond mere infiltration. To quote the old saying, it’s not just a Castle Raid, but rather a series of Castle Raids stacked upon each other.

Ivan served as a decoy for the operation in one direction while simultaneously acting as a field agent tasked with neutralizing Abiditas’ lackey forces.

The dwarves were decoys to support Ivan and Enrique, and at the same time, they were the main force blocking the rebels.

Enrique was a decoy to divert attention from Ivan and the dwarves and simultaneously a rescue operation to rescue the Secretary’s son by causing confusion in the enemy command.

There’s no role for being used as bait and exiting the stage. Everyone has to play their part and succeed simultaneously.

Therefore, Enrique’s role is the most crucial.

The moment she’s exposed, the Secretary’s son could be moved to another location, so her position shouldn’t be revealed.

However, it’s necessary to inform the enemy command that they might be targeting the Secretary’s son.

The rescue operation must proceed without error, in conjunction with the completion of the other operations from different directions.

That’s why Lucia is here. There’s no need to communicate with the dwarves, but constant communication with Enrique is essential.

Ivan covered the pocket watch with a thud and looked at Lucia.

“This time too?”

“Yes, this time too.”

Lucia closed her eyes, waiting for the signal, then nodded. Ivan let out a small sigh. Enrique had reported that all the anticipated target points he had scouted were wrong. This was already the third time.

Day 5 of the Operation. At this time, they should have started discovering the facility where the Secretary’s son was imprisoned.

Five locations were under scrutiny. These locations were chosen to detain the captured operatives, thwart rescue attempts by the counterintelligence units, and select places for easy communication with the outside world in times of crisis.

Now, three of them had been searched. Even though it wasn’t just one building but the entire enemy military camp without any information, the difficulty of the mission was difficult to compare to Ivan’s.

However, if three out of five were already searched, they should be getting closer. Unless, by some chance, the Secretary’s son was being held in the last candidate.

“Oh, we’re doomed! Look, there’s another one coming out! Wow, they’re really bunched up this time?”

“Move to position C-11 and lie in wait. We’ll strike in 15 seconds.”

“Oh, uh, wait a moment!!”

Lucia hurriedly ran along the shadows to the opposite side of the building. Ivan aimed his rifle and looked around.

Beyond the broken window, there was a trembling dwarf in the square.

The dwarf was injured and crying out in pain. Ivan glanced at the distorted face of the dwarf through the scope and casually turned the muzzle.

“Just wait a moment! I’ll go right away!!”

A frightened group of dwarves, wearing armored plates beyond standard issue, were approaching.

Five of them.

Ivan carefully examined the dwarf’s armor visible through the scope. The frontal armor was impossible to penetrate with the bullets he had.

He gathered his breath, controlled his breathing slowly. Having tested the firearm several times already, he was familiar with its specifications. Like all Dwarven firearms, it was an extremely precise mechanical device.

Exhaling halfway, pausing, he pushed his index finger into the trigger. The resistance of the spring felt good against his fingertips.

The target is 1.5cm below the armored plate. The chain section that appears when raising the arm. Even though it’s not penetrable by a single bullet, it’s the most vulnerable point from the front.

– Bang!

At the moment of firing, the leading dwarf raised his head.

“They have the line of fire direction.”

Although they didn’t spot Ivan, they seemed to have identified his position behind cover. The dwarf quickly gestured and shouted commands.

In Ivan’s enhanced hearing, the sound of shells landing was audible. They were trying to locate Ivan’s hiding spot and bombard it.

From the moment of firing to the impact, there was about a 3-second window. And to superhumans, 3 seconds are more absolute than the numerical value indicated. Ivan was already moving, his eyes narrowed.

– Click.

Before the sparks from the shot had settled, his hand had finished reloading. Maintaining his position, he controlled the recoil with both arms, then fired again.

– Bang!

The bullet, with an error margin of within 0.1mm, hit the chain section precisely. The impact exceeded the tensile strength, loosening the chain.

Seeing the sparks, he quickly reloaded.

With a firm grip, he aligned his sights.

After exhaling his last breath, he regulated his breathing.

– Bang!

– Click!

The chain broke, and the armor loosened. Ivan threw away his rifle and picked up a spear. It was pointless to repeat the same attack as long as there was line of fire detection. The moment the armor broke, the dwarf would surely evade.

Attack.

With a swift motion, Ivan’s right arm extended to its limit. Twisting his waist to the limit, he put all his elasticity into thrusting the spear.

Zoom, the spear tore through the air like rain. As the spear flew, Ivan lowered his body.

– Thud.

He stepped on the window sill and jumped. In the dizzying sensation of floating, he twisted his posture. The moment he exposed himself, over seven shots were fired, caught by diagonal detection.

He dodged what he could, avoided what he could, and redirected maximum force using his left hand, heavily armored. Ivan’s body blurred for a moment.

– Bang, clank!

He leaped towards the approaching wall. Next. He slammed into another wall. Even as he leaped through the air, Ivan’s gaze remained fixed on the square.

With each detection alarm, he twisted his body, adjusted his trajectory, dashed again, and slammed into a wall. Finally.

– Thud!

Just as the dwarf barely dodged his spear, Ivan swiftly adjusted his stance.

“Swoosh!!”

Ivan was pulling the spear embedded in the ground in front of the dwarf’s armored chest.

The firmly lodged spear still had some wiggle room. Ivan thrust it into the panicked dwarf’s breastplate.

The blade, having shattered the breastplate and shattered the sternum, emerged cleanly from the back of the neck.

Feeling the sensation of his hand, Ivan lowered his body as soon as he released the spear.

– Bang! Bang!

Countless bullets struck the corpse of the dwarf without a scream. It’s fine. The dwarf’s armor couldn’t even be penetrated by Dwarven bullets from the front.

(TN: He was using the corpse as shield)

A heavy weapon needed to be brought. And that heavy weapon was just now landing at its first entrenched position.

– Aaarrgh!

Feeling the heat rushing behind him, Ivan reached back. A hatchet and a dagger were gripped in his hand.

He pulled them out and threw his body towards the next target. Just as the dwarf, who had just recovered from shock, was hurriedly wielding his warhammer against him.

– Thud!

Twisting his body to dodge the hammer, he stabbed the dagger between the chainmail gloves around the dwarf’s wrists. As the strength drained from the dwarf’s grip, he swung his right arm to strike with the axe.

Clang! Sparks flew from the dwarf’s neck. While the axe’s blade was blocked, it seemed the impact was not avoided. The dwarf’s posture staggered.

He drove the dagger into the weakened chain section again. Thump, thump, thump. Three strikes in a single breath. The armor that held the helmet and breastplate in place was torn apart.

Ivan called this “operation” a “tin can opener.” Within the Cleanup Unit, only about five operatives could do such a thing.

– Bang!

As the helmet flew off, Ivan finished with a final swing of the axe. Confirming death with the sensation of the cervical vertebrae shattering, he threw himself forward.

“This… monster…!!”

The remaining dwarves screamed and fled. There was no more time to delay. Gunfire caught by diagonal detection was gradually surpassing the responsive area.

Pew! The sound of the next barrage echoed. Immediately, Ivan raised his left arm, covering his neck with the armored plate. Ting! A bullet struck his palm and bounced off.

“The… Tarantula..!!”

The dwarf, who had been sobbing while hanging on the pole, glared at Ivan with vengeance-filled eyes. Ivan glanced at him indifferently and then darted back into the city center.

The clamor and gunfire continued long after his figure disappeared from the square. It wasn’t until several more shots struck the square that it regained silence.

The dwarf slowly raised his head and sobbed. Like prey caught in a spider’s web.

In less than 10 seconds after the rescue team appeared in the square, two of his fellow kin who had rushed to save him became corpses.

That’s how the spider operates in battle.

—

In the Cleanup Unit’s standard manual, there’s a tactic called “Ant Hell.”

It referred to a tactic of gradually cutting off each troop sent to rescue a wounded soldier left in a visible position.

The presence of friendly forces screaming day and night in plain sight alone undermines the morale of the entire army. The enemy is forced to choose between sniping the wounded soldier themselves or risking casualties to attempt a rescue.

The common solution at this time is to send elite troops as a rescue team. In fact, it’s an obvious choice. This manual focuses on neutralizing the enemy’s main force through sniping.

However, sniping doesn’t work against elites. Because of the Line of Fire detection. Therefore, the original “Ant Hell” tactic is ineffective against elites.

From then on, Ivan’s reputation spread among enemies.

Every time elite soldiers like the giants were dispatched, he would appear somewhere, launching an assault, and then waiting for the next giant while shaking a bait.

He spread his spider web and honed his fangs in the darkness.

He was dubbed “Tarantula” at the end of it. Dwarves had to know his nickname before his real name. And when Ivan’s real name was revealed, he became a legend in the Dwarven intelligence service.

The legend killed by Abiditas was being resurrected in Dwarven society.

*

The command’s decision to anticipate Ivan’s entry and prepare traps was extremely swift and accurate. Thanks to their quick initial response, unnecessary losses could be minimized.

Even if a hero were to personally intervene, the firepower to confront them head-on was positioned at the heart of the arsenal. That was all that was needed. That’s what they thought.

If you want to kill the dwarves and shut down the factory, you must charge in head-on. Because all other routes were blocked off.

However, after the first night passed and a dwarf got caught in the spider’s web, they recalled memories of the venom spider.

Even if the area suspected to be his stronghold were bombed, the next day another dwarf would be hanging on the pole.

Sending reconnaissance teams resulted in the entire team disappearing, and one survivor would be hanging on the pole again.

Even when mobilizing all goblins to attempt a widespread search, although quiet as a mouse at first, eventually, another pole would be set up in a different location. Naturally, a dwarf would be hanging there.

Days went by like this.

When the screaming dwarves fell silent, they repeated the act of tying up another dwarf.

They openly displayed their act of silently infiltrating and kidnapping someone and bringing them to the square.

After two more days passed.

When they realized they had set the trap instead of preparing for one and chose to siege to prevent further losses.

At the moment when the remaining dwarves finally lost their will to fight, seized by panic and convulsions.

Kugugugugu!!

The entire arsenal began to rumble.

With a clatter, the noise of flapping wings echoed louder throughout the entire compound than the screams. The dwarf who raised his gaze murmured amidst the small sparks of hope rising like embers.

“Has he come…?!”

A swarm of bats filled the ceiling of the compound. Snakes, lizards, insects like ants and rats from the underground tunnels began pouring in like waves.

The rustling noise filled the surroundings, and when they finally scattered throughout the entire factory zone.

[Ivan Petrovich!!!]

A voice that sounded like scraping metal reverberated heavily throughout the entire factory zone.

Ivan covered the clock with a thud and stood up.

Andgrind’s “Castle Raid” Day 7.

05:30.

Finally, the target had arrived in the trap.

—

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