Rewind two days, to when Ivan was briefing the state councilors on Operation Feint East, Strike West at the command post.

"..."

From the moment he finished outlining the operation, everyone in the command post stared blankly at his face. Ivan was hardly an expert at reading dwarven expressions, but these were difficult to call favorable. They carried a distinct suggestion of, Are you out of your mind?

"I have a great many questions."

A muscular dwarf with the title of director of military administration and guidance raised his hand. When Ivan gestured with his chin, the dwarf gave him a dubious look.

"Is even the first phase feasible?"

"Of course."

"You intend to reach the opposite side of the mountains within two days?"

"I've done it before."

Ivan looked down steadily at the dwarf's face.

Andgrund lay beneath the vast Sky Mountains, which stretched across the northern front. The mountains themselves formed a natural barrier. To reach the demons' residential zones, one had no choice but to pass through the low ravines.

Some mountain crossings led through great gates built by Krasilof's military, but those were far too distant from their current position. They could not be used for this operation.

And this operation was Feint East, Strike West. Infiltration and strikes behind enemy lines were essential. That meant moving to the ridge on the far side of the mountains before commencing the operation.

Taking the underground route, it was not an impossible distance to cover on foot in two days. Except that they would have to cut straight through enemy territory.

They needed to infiltrate the enemy's rear without alerting the hostile dwarven faction, so Ivan's plan was simple: emerge onto the surface, climb over the mountains, and strike from behind.

His planned route did not cross the highest peak in the Sky Mountains, but the map still called for him to scale snowy cliffs without so much as a climbing trail, traveling in a straight line to the place known as Northern Gate 5.

The terrain would ordinarily make even the most accomplished dwarven scout climbers balk. His claim that he would traverse it in two days was reason enough to doubt the operation's viability.

"You said... you've done it before?"

"How do you think we infiltrated Aviditas's fortress?"

* * *

Day One of Andgrund's Operation Feint East, Strike West.

WHOOOOOSH!!

With the clouds beneath them, the weather was clear. Aside from the vicious cold.

Lucia had never looked down on clouds in her life. Struggling to move her frozen jaw, she mumbled,

"I'm seriously going to die!!"

Ivan did not bother answering. He knew that someone truly about to die would have no strength left to speak. Instead, he hitched Lucia higher on his back.

"Can't you hear me?! Let's take a break!!"

"We can't."

"Why not!!"

Rather than answer, Ivan raised a hand and waved it before her eyes. His leather-gloved hand held a ticking pocket watch.

"You really, seriously mean to cross this in two days? We still have a long way down afterward. You—you know humans get something called altitude sickness..."

"Apply mana to your lungs to increase their oxygen uptake."

"What does that even...?"

"Altitude sickness is a drop in blood oxygen concentration caused by activity in an oxygen-poor atmosphere. The moment you develop a headache, reinforce your lungs with mana and force yourself to breathe deeply."

"This is insane! Nobody taught me how to do that!"

"Fail, and you die."

Oxygen deficiency caused by rapid ascent. Ordinarily, an acclimatization or training period was required, but not in Lucia's case. She could already reinforce herself with mana, and Enrique had personally taught her blood sorcery. In other words, she specialized in blood-based spells.

She was perfectly capable of it. He had chosen this route out of faith not in Lucia, but in Enrique's teaching methods. In silence, Ivan drove his axe into the cliff and climbed.

WHOOOOOSH!!

At a height where a fall would kill you of a heart attack before impact, where dislodged stones vanished without even an audible crash, Ivan silently climbed the cliff, striking with his axe.

After chattering for a while, Lucia clamped her mouth shut and began desperately manipulating her mana. Apparently, the onset of a headache had frightened her.

Excellent.

Ivan hurled his rope-tied axe over the cliff's edge, lodged it securely, and hauled himself up faster.

Of all his experiences, this was among the most recent: climbing the Sky Mountains to reach a Seven Dragon General in the demons' residential zone. It had been his final assignment, just before the Extermination Unit's dissolution, just before he decided to retire.

Fortunately, then, he still had the knack.

* * *

"Then my second question. I don't know how humans go about planning their operations, but have you heard this saying? The first casualty of war is the operational plan. That means..."

"I know."

"And knowing that, you draw up a plan like this?"

The dwarf tapped Ivan's outline and spoke sullenly.

Even an hour-by-hour plan deserved ridicule as an absurd fantasy, yet this document was packed with a minute-by-minute timetable. The operational map was crammed with tactical symbols, movement routes, even predicted lines of engagement. Not even a first-year student at a tactical academy would pull a stunt like this. It was the work of a fantasist who had never tried even a basic war game.

Ivan nodded.

"Too much for you?"

"... Too much?! Do you honestly think any of this makes sense?!"

"Enrique and I can do it. The only variable is you."

"I don't know whether that's confidence or arrogance, but understand this. This map was drawn before the civil war! Conditions on the ground may be completely different!"

"These are underground passages. They may have added tunnels, but they cannot easily demolish the ones marked on the map. Especially not dwarven structures."

"... True. Ever since you destroyed the Earthweb Excavators, that has... been the case."

"Then your tactical maps are the most predictable field maps there are. They depict artificial structures with extremely small margins of error."

* * *

Day Two of Andgrund's Feint East, Strike West.

Lucia frowned, glaring at the map as she turned it this way and that. She kept biting her lip as she watched the compass needle spin.

"Senior, haven't we taken a wrong turn? There shouldn't be a fork here..."

"We're on the right path."

"But..."

"Look."

Ivan struck his axe into one branch of the fork.

CRACK!

One of the tunnel's support posts split wide open. Running a finger along the split, he spoke quietly.

"The construction method here differs from that tunnel."

"... I'm not exactly well versed in dwarven civil engineering..."

"This is useful to know. A tunnel with support posts was dug by hand. See how that one has none?"

"What? Oh, yes. But why does that matter?"

"It means that tunnel was dug when they still had Earthweb Excavators. An Earthweb Excavator uses compression excavation. It doesn't install supports. Unless there's an earthquake, the tunnel won't collapse."

Lucia's mouth fell open at his explanation.

"Then this tunnel..."

"Was excavated recently. It wouldn't be on the map. Any other questions?"

"If I keep studying under Master, will I start thinking like you?"

"You don't need a teacher of Enrique's caliber to do that."

Ivan nodded firmly. Any properly trained agent could make that deduction. It was simply a matter of experience.

He could not be as good a teacher as Enrique. Unfortunately, even with his familiarity with the advanced educational systems of the twenty-first century, that was difficult to emulate. He had no particular talent for teaching.

But even so, there was one thing he could provide: experience. As with the other children of the Hero's Party, rather than imparting special techniques or knowledge, he excelled at drilling in experience that closely approximated real combat.

Thus, he regarded the nodding Lucia with considerable satisfaction before moving on. Once this mission was over, she would make a worthy rival for the other members of the new Hero's Party. One who would spark their competitive spirit.

* * *

The dwarf studied Ivan's face, then cautiously asked another question, visibly subdued.

"But ultimately, this entire operation... means using you as bait, doesn't it?"

"Yes."

"Will you be able to return alive?"

"Does that question matter to you?"

"... My apologies. I asked the wrong question. If even a minor deviation occurs in your plan, if the operation doesn't proceed as you expect... should we still adhere to this timetable?"

If Ivan sustained injuries during his infiltration that left him unable to carry out the operation, should they follow this plan even then? He nodded firmly in answer.

"Even if both my operation and Enrique's fail, you must adhere to this plan."

"Why?"

"Because once the operation begins, neither Enrique nor I will have any way of contacting you."

Improvisation and cunning stratagems ultimately had to operate within a thoroughly prepared grand strategy. Even if a field commander's discretion altered the course of an operation, headquarters had to maintain its original approach to preserve the overall framework. Only then could those in the field respond on schedule.

The dwarf gave a brief nod at Ivan's words.

"We'll advance on schedule in two days."

"I'll see you here in a week."

"May you return alive."

Ivan left without answering.

* * *

Andgrund's Feint East, Strike West. Day Two, 1930 hours.

CLICK-CLACK.

The dwarf at the very front silently drew his long gun and loaded it. Like the opening call of a marching song.

CLICK-CLACK. CLICK-CLACK. CLICK-CLACK.

The response followed. Behind him, heavily armed infantry stood packed together all the way beyond the broad square. The sound of their loading weapons reverberated throughout it.

RRRUMBLE.

The enormous gate opened. Andgrund's northern gate, never once fully opened since the civil war began, was swinging wide.

The clamor of interlocking cranks rang through the vast underground cavern. More brazenly than ever, so anyone could notice.

Evading dwarven eyes and ears underground was difficult. And their enemies now were dwarves too.

The same scene was unfolding simultaneously across the wide front. Preparing for all-out war, the dwarves began advancing with guns, axes, and hammers drawn, hauling artillery behind them. Northward, toward the rebels' main force. Throughout the caverns beneath the mountains, across Andgrund's vast domain.

"Acting as bait..."

Regri Groeldi, director of military administration and guidance, smiled bitterly as he looked down at their army marching along the avenue below the castle.

The Venomous Spider's operation was simple. Anyone could have conceived it: dangle bait, then launch an offensive from another direction. What made his operation special was that it went one step beyond Feint East, Strike West.

Enrique, rescuing the Secretary's son.

Ivan, assassinating Aviditas's underlings.

The main dwarven force, feigning a frontal advance.

All three served as bait for one another while simultaneously pursuing key operational objectives.

There was no deceiving dwarven eyes underground. Whether Enrique or Ivan, once their operation passed a certain point of no return, their location and objective would inevitably be exposed. A perfectly concealed strike and withdrawal was impossible from the outset. They would therefore proceed on the assumption that they would be discovered.

It did not matter who. Whoever was discovered would become bait supporting the operations in the other directions.

The enemy would find itself agonizing over the question: what was their true objective? Ivan in the rear? Enrique infiltrating from the flank? The army advancing from the front?

Wrong. Every objective was crucial, and every sector's operation served as bait for the others. Individually, the operations existed on the tactical level, but on the strategic level they meshed tightly together under a meticulously crafted timetable.

Whichever option enemy command chose, the operations elsewhere would proceed unchanged. It did not matter who failed. Conversely, if their confused commanders misjudged the situation, every operational objective might be achieved in full.

There was just one thing.

'Enrique is infiltrating from the east, so her withdrawal route runs close to our lines, but...'

Ivan, infiltrating from the north, would be stranded in demon territory even if he withdrew. In other words, his position was the most perilous.

The director of military administration and guidance reflected bitterly. With the human side crawling with men like that, hadn't the demons been doomed from the start? That must have been why even the mighty Demon King and the Seven Dragon Generals, who called themselves gods, had lost the war. Perhaps the dwarves had chosen the wrong side.

RRRUMBLE!!

Andgrund was trembling. The rebels, too, had begun responding to this sudden advance. The two armies would soon confront one another throughout the caverns beneath the mountains.

At any rate, all we need to do is hold out. For the remaining five days, they merely had to keep the enemy constantly on edge with the threat of war and adhere to the timetable.

The director studied the timetable Ivan had written.

"He should be entering the avenue directly beneath Gate Five by now."

If all these operations ultimately succeeded, and he even returned alive at the end, how should the Venomous Spider be recorded in their people's histories? As an outside hero who ended a long civil war and restored their territory beneath the mountains? Or as a nightmare who had killed—and could kill—more dwarves than anyone else alive?

The director could not tell whether he wanted Ivan to succeed and return alive, or would rather see him fail and perish. Just like every other dwarf who had remained in operational headquarters that day.

* * *

RRRRUMBLE!!

Inside a tunnel shaking as though an earthquake had struck, Enrique glanced at her pocket watch and smirked.

"Sly bastard. I wonder who taught him."

There had been two operational plans from the outset. One for the dwarves, and one for Enrique and Ivan—in other words, for the outside world.

She released a pigeon with a letter tied to it into the sky outside the tunnel, then dusted off her hands.

Feint East, Strike West. Ivan had said it meant raising a clamor in the east and striking the west. Similar tactical concepts were already well known. A traditional bait operation.

But Ivan had announced an outline in which they would dangle bait from three directions at once. That was not a lie. The operation inside the underground realm would proceed that way.

And outside that underground realm—in our world—the operation's name was:

"Hammer and Anvil."

What an extreme traditionalist. Running a two-layered scheme using a tactical outline straight out of an academy's basic curriculum was characteristic of the stodgy old Extermination Unit.

Enrique chuckled and snapped her pocket watch shut.

In a week, once the iron ingot on the anvil was hot enough, the hammer would arrive. The minute-by-minute timetable had been prepared for that moment.

What was that phrase he always used?

"A good agent never plans an operation around just one objective at a time... Was that it?"

What kind of field agent even thought like this? Laughing aloud, Enrique walked into the tunnel's shadows.