Navellun apparently had not exaggerated the urgency of the situation. At the dwarves' insistence, Ivan and Enrique had to head straight to the state deliberation chamber.

Ivan had seldom seen so many dwarves sitting together unarmed in his life. (Which meant he had seen it before. None of them were around to be seen anymore, though.)

Apart from the dwarves who had come out to welcome Ivan, every state councilor regarded the two humans who had abruptly entered with suspicion.

"Have you finally lost your mind, Comrade Navellun? How dare you bring humans into the state deliberation chamber?"

"Don't be absurd. Wasn't it this chamber that decided to ask Shadow Blade to secure aid from Krasilof in the first place?"

"Then look at Krasilof's answer to that request!"

The dwarves gestured at Ivan, who stood beside Navellun with his arms folded.

"I'd rather not go through the same uproar again, so let me make one thing clear. Oh, do I have the floor, Navellun?"

"Speak freely, Shadow Blade. You are here as Krasilof's official envoy."

"Good. Then listen, all of you."

Enrique walked to the center of the chamber, squared her shoulders, and declared,

"Since I am Krasilof's official envoy, I shall state Krasilof's official position. Dwarves. Commissioners of Andgrund. We who stand before you are the only aid Krasilof can provide..."

Furious shouts erupted among the dwarves. "Bullshit!" "Don't play games with us, human!" "Are you trying to insult us?" And so on.

Unmoved, Enrique continued from the center of the tumultuous chamber.

"And the most powerful. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Enrique. Enrique Seregeyevica. A member of the Hero's Party, and a witness who stood at the very spot where the Demon King was slain. When it comes to choosing the single most powerful fighter Krasilof can field, I have never once yielded that position. If anyone still doubts my abilities, step forward and demand proof."

The dwarves still looked displeased. But none dared challenge her.

Enrique swept her gaze over the assembly and spoke.

"The man standing here is the pupil who learned everything I know, Aviditas's executioner, and the commander of Counterintelligence Command. Colonel Ivan Petrovich Yeremov. He would have been a major back when you knew him. Yes. The Venomous Spider."

"The Venomous Spider... Ivan! We heard he was dead!"

"Is my country obliged to disclose its personnel affairs to you?"

Enrique's words silenced the dwarves. Their silence was all but forced upon them. Not one state councilor present could conceal the confusion and fear rising in their face.

The air in the chamber was unmistakably changing. The currents of emotion swirling around one man were almost visible. Fear, hatred, anger, and once again: fear.

The Extermination Unit under Ivan's direct command had inflicted more losses on the dwarves than any other single military formation in the world. During the war, the dwarves had suffered defeat on only one front.

Those defeats had gone beyond the tactical level. News of them had never reached the outside world. In other words, no survivors had returned alive to report them.

On that defeated front, the enemy had exploited its victories to devastating effect. Only after troop losses passed a critical threshold had the dwarves recognized their defeat and been able to respond.

As the intelligence network they had dug through the mountains gradually went dark, and every "unexplored area" beyond the shadows of the tunnels became a "danger zone," the dwarves learned fear.

The fear that "the Venomous Spider comes for those left alone at the end of a tunnel."

"These people are not our enemies, comrades. Our task is to punish Aviditas's lackeys and the fools who dared rise against His Excellency the Secretary. Put down your axes, and let us talk."

Navellun's words restored the assembly's composure. They gazed at him and the two humans with sunken eyes before one spoke.

"But surely we cannot share a map of our front lines with that Ivan? Even if his help wins us the war, will we have a future afterward? With a direct railway to Andgrund now open, if Krasilof learns every tunnel beneath our mountains, will our people have any future at all?"

"Will you have one otherwise?"

Ivan had finally spoken. The dwarf who had raised the objection flinched back.

"The Secretary's son has been abducted, half your people have rebelled, and a legion of the Seven Dragon Generals lurks behind the rebellion's ringleader. Can you truly turn the tide on your own in that situation?"

"... That is why we requested military aid from you."

"And that is why I am standing here."

Ivan walked to the center of the chamber. He surveyed the still-cowering dwarves, trying to meet their eyes one by one.

But none dared look him in the eye.

"I understand why you are reluctant to share Andgrund's front lines with me. I will not force you. But I can make you a promise."

"A promise?"

"Assuming I have no prior information about this region, I can accomplish the mission objective within six months."

Ivan had served in the Extermination Unit, which was fundamentally an operational force for infiltrating deep into enemy territory. The same had held true when he traveled the front with the Hero's Party. His objective had been to identify potential dangers along the party's route and return alive.

He was therefore an agent who specialized in exploring "regions with no available intelligence," gathering information, and surviving. He had never made a single mistake on any of those fronts, and that was how he had survived the Hero's Party's decapitation operation.

Thus, a situation like this, with both friendly positions and enemy encampments clearly established, could hardly be called a challenge for him.

Interrogate the first enemy encountered, locate that formation's headquarters, strike the headquarters and conduct further interrogations, then infiltrate the next operational target. The whole process was as familiar as the calluses on his hands.

So.

"If you share the situation at the front with me, I can accomplish the mission objective within two months."

"Two months...! How could that possibly...!"

"And if you give me intelligence on the front, effective field command, and adequate fire support, I can accomplish the mission objective within one week."

"... One... week!"

The dwarf who had first objected stammered out a question.

"Sir... what mission objective do you have in mind?"

"One of two. Rescue the Secretary's son, as you request. Or annihilate Aviditas's followers, who are behind this war."

"Both of those..."

"That is not possible."

Ivan gave a brief shake of his head. Claiming the impossible was possible was the behavior of a fraud. A trained agent had to give an honest assessment of an operation's feasibility.

"The Secretary's son is a prisoner of sorts. Nothing more than a means of keeping all of you in check. The moment Aviditas's followers die, the prisoner dies as well. Conversely, the moment we rescue the prisoner and deprive them of that restraint, they will launch an all-out war without fail. Assassination will become effectively impossible then."

"Had you already anticipated the current state of the war?"

"If they have taken a prisoner, they cannot be waging an all-out war. It means they are buying time and forcing a delaying action, which means they are preparing something that will turn the tide."

"Do you have any other views? We are listening."

A test of sorts, then. To see whether he really was Ivan Petrovich, and whether he was as capable a commander as the rumors claimed. That was fine. The Extermination Unit had always had to be more capable than its reputation.

"The reason for the stalemate is obvious. Both sides field dwarves. Your defensive and offensive capabilities are both excessive."

Even a basic dwarven infantryman wore nearly flawless plate armor. In close combat, a square formation of massed dwarven warriors was practically a wall.

It easily stopped melee weapons, never mind small-arms fire. Even bringing in a reasonably powerful superhuman would yield little advantage. Naturally, then, close combat between dwarves would drag the fighting into a protracted stalemate.

At the same time, however, dwarven firepower was excessive. These were a people who dug tunnels and built their cities underground.

Contrary to popular misconception, that did not mean they excavated with shovels and chisels. Over their long history, they had developed remarkably sophisticated blasting explosives.

Now that all the Earthweb Excavators had been lost, dwarven excavation technology relied almost entirely on blasting explosives.

And as had been the case with dynamite on Earth, throwing industrial explosives at people gave rise to weapons of war.

Dwarven weapons possessed excessive firepower. On the surface, that made them an overwhelming threat. Not so underground. They could far too easily fire a shot that brought down an entire tunnel.

Unless they wanted to collapse the ground throughout Andgrund, the dwarves had to restrict their use of firearms in a civil war. Just as nuclear war on Earth was held in check to prevent mutually assured destruction.

"So we must assume Aviditas's lackeys, who already know all of this, have something else in mind."

"Something else...?"

"They could be excavating Aviditas's remains, or producing undead troops through large-scale burnt-offering rituals. There are many reasons to stall, but not much intelligence to go on. Perhaps both."

Aviditas's floating island, [Citadel of Desire], had crashed near the Sky Mountains. With his phylactery destroyed, Aviditas had been obliterated forever, but his body would still be buried somewhere underground, pinned beneath the citadel's floor.

Along with the countless treasures he had collected in life.

His disciples would naturally want to recover their master's legacy. Given a few hundred years, a second Aviditas might emerge.

So they had to settle this now, before such a thing could happen.

Ivan even felt a certain sense of fate. A fate tied to the Dragon General who had taken away everything he had last allowed himself to love.

For now he had returned to reduce everything Aviditas had cherished to ash and dust.

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. It was time to grant eternal oblivion to the undying specters who had fled from death.

This was vengeance upon each other, and an offering of incense for the memories each had cherished.

Vengeance and incense for the Extermination Unit subordinates who had perished at Aviditas's hands, and for Aviditas, who had been annihilated by the Extermination Unit.

Ivan squeezed his eyes shut.

The memories of that day still echoed in his ears. Their final words had always been the same.

["Don't die here."]

They had smiled as they said it to their comrade, even as death swallowed them.

Those words, breathed out when the first comrade died, had passed through to the last comrade's final breath, until at last they reached Ivan.

He alone remained. The wish of every member of the strike team had become the will that sustained him to this day. Don't die here. Don't die like this.

For all those who had lived with purpose and died for something worthwhile. Let me, at least, remember them until the very end.

When Ivan finally opened his eyes, the assembly was watching him in silence.

"Now I believe it. You are indeed the Venomous Spider from those days. Will you accept our apology?"

"It means nothing."

Ivan shook his head curtly. Time spent indulging in empty formalities would be better spent carrying out the operation even a moment sooner. The enemy's numbers would be increasing by a measurable amount every hour.

At that ruthlessly efficient response, the dwarves understood.

This was why they had feared this man during the war. He was rational enough to make their teeth chatter, translated that rationality into competence, and invariably put that competence to malevolent ends.

"The Secretary wishes to meet with you privately. Afterward, we will share a map of all Andgrund at the tactical conference."

"Is Durantline Elovandi still serving as general secretary?"

"... Might I ask that you at least use his title?"

"I will bear that in mind."

Ivan nodded and followed Navellun.

* * *

The general secretary's palace lay deep below, down a staircase so vast that even five dwarven armored mine carts lined up abreast would not span its width.

Colossal stone statues of dwarves bearing axes, hammers, and other implements lined both sides of the stairs, gazing down at those who approached.

Ancient dwarven runes were inlaid in gold above the palace's arched entrance. [At the End of This Road Lies the Center of the World.] A fitting display of dwarven arrogance.

Knowing that a planet's center could not possibly lie at such a shallow depth, Ivan was able to remain unmoved, unlike Navellun, who trembled in awe.

BOOM.

RUMBLE...

The palace doors opened in a cloud of dust. As the thick stone gates parted, faint metallic clangs drifted through the gap.

CLANG, CLANG, CLANG.

Then came the hiss of quenching steel. Sounds one might expect from a smithy echoed through the vast hall.

How long had they walked? Before he knew it, Ivan had been led to a massive forge that sent a blast of heat washing over him.

"So you've come?"

A squat dwarf in shabby clothes, covered in soot and working a hammer, turned toward him.

"It is quite something to meet the human with the highest bounty in our world."

"Excluding the Demon King and the Seven Dragon Generals, your bounty was among the highest in ours as well."

"But not anymore?"

"Not from now on."

At the sight of bitter enemies forged by war discussing peace, the old dwarf gave a hollow laugh.

"Durantline Elovandi."

"Ivan Petrovich Yeremov."

"Thank you for sparing the time. I know I am hardly in a position to ask for favors, but I very much wanted to see you for myself."

"You were listening to the entire discussion in the chamber, I take it?"

"Isn't that what egalitarianism is?"

Ah. Ivan nodded. A true dictator did not show himself readily. He knew that a shadow cast from behind a blackout curtain guaranteed the greatest control.

"Isn't that rather troublesome work for a secretary?"

"Smithing? It doesn't matter who does it. What matters more is whose hands the result ends up in. Weapons or equipment, who wields them and to what end is what ultimately bears fruit."

The Secretary wiped the soot from his cheek with the back of his hand. But his entire hand was already blackened with charcoal, so he only ended up making his face darker.

He looked at Ivan with an unpretentious smile.

"What weapon do you use?"

"I'm not particular."

"Your preference?"

"An axe."

"Wait a moment. Comrade Navellun?"

Navellun, who had been listening blankly to their conversation, stepped forward with a start.

"Yes, Comrade Secretary!"

"Open the treasury and give him the finest weapon we have. Grant him anything he wants, and supply whatever he needs, even if you have to strip all Andgrund bare."

The Secretary regarded Ivan with clear eyes, then turned back to the anvil. He placed the piece of metal he had just been quenching upon it and raised his hammer.

"In return, give us back the other half of these mountains."

"I shall."

"Then we have a deal. Tell your sovereign I hope the next envoy will be a civil official. You may go."

Without waiting for an answer, the Secretary began hammering.

Ivan gave a brief bow of his head and followed Navellun out. The clang of hammer blows rang out behind him.

A man of steel.

If Ivan ever had to return on Krasilof's orders to move against this underground city, it would be no easy task. So he thought as he left.