# Andgrund
East-West Confrontation, Day 3.
03:50.
"How much time has passed?"
"Exactly three hours. Did you really not use an alarm spell? How can a person wake up with second-level precision?"
"Training. Repetition. Mastery."
Ivan answered as he opened his eyes.
Northern Tunnel #12, a closed mine shaft. Since it had no intersection points with other tunnels on the map, it was outside the patrol routes. Quite suitable as a hiding place.
Ivan clenched his fist and adjusted his condition by wrapping his muscles with mana. The sensation was no different from tightening a loose stringed instrument.
By controlling neural acceleration with extreme precision, one could induce a forced "awakened state." Aside from sleep time essential for vital functions, fatigue was merely a sensory disturbance.
He completely shook off the sticky fatigue in his head before standing up. Lucia was looking at him with worried eyes.
"Shouldn't we rest a bit before departing...? From today onward... you'll have to endure a lot."
Lucia trailed off as she recalled the operation overview.
East-West Confrontation—the key to this operation was for those in charge of each front to draw the enemy's attention with maximum capability.
The main dwarf forces didn't need to make much effort. Simply marching toward enemy lines with sufficient armament would serve as a show of force.
But Ivan and Enrique were different. They had to create the same level of disturbance as an entire legion, alone.
Enrique with the "infamy of the Hero Party."
Ivan with the "infamy of the Spider."
While Enrique was well-known enough, for Ivan—who was already treated as dead—to announce his infamy in enemy territory would require more than ordinary combat.
Therefore, Ivan's operation starting from dawn on the third day was filled with engagement plans until the operation's end.
"I've rested enough."
Ivan chewed and swallowed the nutrition bar Lucia handed him, then silently rolled up his sleeve and pushed his arm toward her.
Lucia examined the dark circles under Ivan's eyes with a sad expression for a while, then sighed and muttered.
"Men, always the same."
-Crunch.
Her fangs dug into Ivan's forearm. He felt a tingling pain as his blood was sucked out.
Although Lucia could replenish calories through both blood-drinking and regular meals, in deployment operations, compact combat rations were more useful. Blood could be produced indefinitely if one was healthy.
Ivan regulated his mana to compress his heartbeat and increase blood pressure. The amount of blood being sucked through his forearm increased rapidly.
After the short break, Ivan took out a Healing Potion bottle from inside his clothes.
"..."
After staring at the transparent glass bottle for a moment in contemplation, he turned his head away and removed the cap.
A good agent, when necessary, would pour Healing Potion on their own arm with their own hand. With a hissing sound, the bleeding wound closed.
"Let's move."
"Yes... tell me if you get tired."
"Quietly."
"Yes... sir."
Less than half a day later, a total of 8 outposts, 25 guard posts, and 47 tunnels had fallen silent.
This occurred in the northern industrial zone where the Andgrund rebels had established their base, and in the rear areas further north, bordering the outer Sky Mountains.
Even the information that the departed sentries had disappeared wasn't transmitted to the central command post. The absence of information was spreading like the black plague, darkening portions of the tactical map.
The command headquarters, already on edge due to the threat of all-out war triggered in the southern engagement area, only began to recognize this fact that afternoon when a dwarf brought news.
"He's here!! He!! He has returned!!"
The sentry who came running with blood flowing from his severed shoulder died after saying those words.
The question from headquarters—"So who is 'he'?"—was answered by another sentry who arrived 30 minutes later.
"He... is still alive...!! At the northern gate... there's no one alive at the end of the northern gate...!!"
This sentry also died from blood loss from his severed shoulder.
It took another 10 minutes to realize that the two sentries suffering from the same symptoms were forces dispatched to what was called the "Northern 5th Gate," Outpost 17.
Another hour to confirm that there were no survivors among other forces urgently dispatched to Outpost 17.
Another hour for news to arrive that the dispatch forces sent to Outpost 15 had gone missing.
Finally, after 30 minutes of realizing that all communication with everyone who had gone north outside the city had been cut off.
After the last surviving member of the returning dispatch unit collapsed foaming at the mouth while saying "The corpses... the corpses...!"
Only then could the command headquarters of the northern military factory district recall similar past military lessons.
This tactic of deliberately blocking information assets, completely paralyzing an entire area so that even the loss of information couldn't be detected.
This tactic, which extremely stimulated fear and slowly caused the opponent to lose field performance capabilities... was remarkably similar to "those people."
"They should all be dead...?"
The command muttered quietly in fear. Before they realized that the first report they received was "He has returned."
"Available forces... what are our available forces?!"
"Except for the slaves, the entire army has marched to the front lines! Only engineers remain in this city now!"
The war wasn't easy enough to leave combat units in the rearmost area on the opposite side of the front line.
Looking at the long railway connecting the military factory to the front line, the command made the most accurate judgment possible despite their fear.
"Send a dispatch to the necromancers! Tell them the Spider is here!"
"But, we're not certain..."
"Not certain? Are you saying we should verify if he's really the Spider before sending the dispatch?!"
Only after the dispatch had left did the command succeed in gathering the engineers from the factory district, trying to maintain a semblance of calm.
"The enemy is few in number."
Of course. Infiltrating the rear through the outside of the mountain range with a force beyond a certain size would exceed Krasilov's supply capabilities.
If they truly wanted all-out war, there would be no need to initiate a rear infiltration. They could simply deploy the Northern Legion stationed there to march alongside the Andgrund forces.
Those lurking beyond the darkness of information now would be no more than a small strike team.
"This isn't something only the Annihilation Squad can accomplish. Get your minds straight! When infiltrating the rear with a small force, this is the only option available!"
The information control and isolation they were experiencing now wasn't a special tactic that only the fearsome Annihilation Squad could accomplish.
Rather, it was closer to the fact that even the great Annihilation Squad had no other tactical means to choose from.
Sufficient numbers in themselves can be a means to disrupt tactical layers. Most great strategies and tactics in history begin with deploying "sufficient numbers" at the "right time" "completely."
Therefore, for a small strike team to threaten a larger force, there is no solution other than tactics like this. If you reverse this thinking, the situation becomes simpler.
Confronting a large force head-on and overwhelming the enemy through sheer numbers.
Unless you have human resources like the Seven Dragon Generals, the quantity of troops overwhelms quality beyond a certain scale.
So.
"Prepare to rotate. Empty the city outskirts and open the gates. All armed forces except goblins should gather with all available firearms!"
The enemy's specialty lies in "whittling down" the opponent.
And the tactic most preferred by dwarves was close to "clustering tightly enough not to be whittled down."
If they just waited, necromancers with eyes reddened at the Spider's appearance would arrive. All they needed to do was hold out for enough time.
Indeed, tricks must be countered with orthodox methods.
This time they would kill the Spider for good. The dwarves present rose, wearing courage like a mask over their fear.
Andgrund East-West Confrontation, Day 4.
13:20.
"Wow..."
Lucia lay prone at the edge of the cliff and exclaimed softly.
Between the numerous railings and tunnels that filled the cliff like a honeycomb, staircases stretched out.
Goblin slaves could be seen going up and down the lower levels of the stairs like ants, each pulling their loads.
Psshhhk—black smoke rose from deep underground. The dwarf military factory district was below them.
Andgrund is often described as an underground city. This is a common error made by those living in the surface world. This place is not a city, but a world unto itself.
Unlike humans who stack buildings on the ground, underground residents have no limits to vertical construction.
No matter how high a tower is built, it cannot compare to dwarves who excavate the ground to erect buildings. Each "city district" completed during the era when earth-net excavators were common boasted a scale no less impressive than Pritzenkaya.
The tunnels, spreading out like a maze, were scattered around the city district like roots. Numerous goblins swarmed in tunnels where mining was still in progress.
A massive underground cavity, countless different races visible between them, mechanical devices making loud noises, huge rails, and the heat from factories producing military supplies.
Lucia stared blankly at the scene below with her mouth open, then turned to look at Ivan.
"Are, are we really going in there? The, the difference in numbers seems... quite severe?"
"We don't need to face them all."
Ivan inspected his weapons while looking down at the city district.
The number of dwarves he had killed on the way here already exceeded several dozen. Enough to count in three digits. That's just from dealing with detachments. About 10 dwarves were intentionally allowed to survive from the engagements.
Having sent that number, the enemy must have realized by now. That the radio silence near the northern gate was induced by an enemy infiltration team.
"It's a trap... right?"
"Mm."
Ivan's assigned mission objective for this operation was to assassinate "Aviditas's remnants."
In a situation where he couldn't know where they were holed up, the most certain method Ivan could choose was "hatred."
Aviditas's remnants hated Ivan more than anyone else in this world. Because he was the very person who killed their master.
So to those who would gather forces with the thought of desecrating even Ivan's corpse, he would suddenly declare:
-I am still alive.
-Here I am.
They could never resist. The minions who served the Lord of Desire could never resist this temptation.
Rather than Ivan going to find them, making them come to Ivan was part of the grand strategy.
And what was needed in that process was enough fear to make their rear units request support from those necromancers.
That fear would make them huddle together. Like now.
"If there's a certain chance of victory, a trap can sometimes become an opportunity."
"...Pardon?"
"Setting a trap means concentrating all available forces in one place. Lucia. Schemes like traps are too fatally risky when they fail. From their perspective, it's an all-or-nothing gamble."
To Ivan's eyes, the city of military factories looked like a turtle-like beast curled up with its spines raised. Growling in fear. Desperately hiding its terror with flashy bravery.
If they were dispersed, it would have been problematic. Fighting urban warfare among scattered indigenous forces in ambush would have been terrible from his perspective.
So he had to force them into a "rotation." His reputation's fear would make that possible.
The tactics the dwarves in that city would choose weren't really of their own volition. Emotions intentionally induced by outside forces were narrowing their options.
As he had reflected before, sometimes encirclement is a tactic that can be employed even with a small force. If the information received in real-time by forces in the field can be controlled at an appropriate level.
Ivan opened his pocket watch with a click and checked the time. By now, Enrique would be actively searching for the secretary's son.
There were five locations where the secretary's son was expected to be detained. Assuming all those districts needed to be searched, it would take about three days.
Aviditas's minions shouldn't be annihilated within that time. At the same time, Enrique's rescue operation shouldn't happen while Aviditas's minions were still alive.
A mission where two agents conducting their operations on opposite sides of the mountain had to achieve their objectives at exactly the same time, with no margin for error.
It was like running a three-legged race for four people while doing handstands blindfolded. Of course, naturally, Ivan and Enrique were people who could do handstands and walk simultaneously even while blindfolded.
"Send a message to Enrique. C7-A point. 'Ant Lion' begins. Expected completion time is 72 hours."
"Yes, sir. I've contacted her. Any other orders?"
"Don't fall behind me. Stay quiet."
And, if possible, don't die today.
Ivan swallowed his last words and threw himself down the cliff.
When Aviditas's minions arrived, facing them all at once would be nearly impossible even for Ivan.
Therefore, from now on, he needed to reduce the enemy's numbers as much as possible. But at the same time, preserving his strength for the final battle to come.
A difficult task.
And this too, was something he had done before.
Indeed, a properly trained agent should not feel burdened by doing something they've experienced once before.