# Enhanced Translation
Society's most effective way to solve most problems is, naturally, to eliminate their root causes.
However, not all social issues can be eliminated, and in such cases, leadership typically attempts to redirect public attention by targeting specific internal groups. (The authorities in this field were Hitler, Stalin, and Mao Zedong.)
It's the act of transferring the costs and public anger from social problems onto tangible targets. Almost all defeated nations had to employ this tactic frequently. Directing blame toward the poor rather than the leadership incurs fewer costs.
The most common excuse is "there was a traitor among us."
A more complex twist would be "It wasn't because the enemy was superior or we were inferior, but because of someone's overwhelming ability." (Japan actually built a shrine for Admiral Yi Sun-sin after the Imjin War.)
Idolizing an enemy surprisingly helps strengthen internal unity. "Our preparations and plans were perfect, but our opponent happened to be XX!" - that sort of thinking.
This mentality is shared by almost all demon clans that were crushed by the Hero Party. The "what could we have done against someone who even killed the Demon King?" kind of reasoning.
The problem is that the dwarves never directly clashed with the Hero Party (they were responsible for rear logistics support or enemy infiltration).
Therefore, the dwarf leadership created another "overwhelming adversary." Conveniently, there was someone they frequently opposed, who had killed one of the Seven Dragon Generals, and who had inflicted quantifiable damage specifically to dwarves.
The Spider. Major Ivan Petrovich. Krasilov's Dagger, the Great King's Executioner, the Woodsman, and the despair of the dwarf intelligence units.
Typically, when creating such an "adversary," there's a risk: if that adversary is still an active threat, the entire nation might sink into a sense of defeat.
But the dwarf leadership could rest easy. Major Ivan Petrovich had died alongside the Seven Dragon General Aviditas. That gloomy, detestable man had perished together with the one they wanted to tear apart.
Now they could freely attempt to "demonize" him.
What? Food shortage? Ivan again!
What? Goblins rioting? Ivan again!
What's that? All export routes blocked? Ivan again!!
Employment instability, population decline, extreme reduction in gross national product, bankruptcy of numerous munitions factories, surge in poverty, and widening wealth gap.
In the face of all these post-defeat social problems, shouting "Ivan again!" made everyone accept it and return to being docile workers. For these paragons of egalitarianism, Ivan had become a sort of scapegoat.
And now, those present here are paying the price.
Not an abstract price like social problems, but a cold, forged, tangible, physical, visible price. (It's unfair. The leadership that exploited Ivan's name never joined the rebels.)
"Ivan Petrovich... again!"
Looking at the corpse of a dead dwarf hanging from a pole stuck in the middle of the street, the command headquarters of the 3rd Munitions District was gripped with terror.
In an era where reviving the dead wasn't a significant feat, the most terrifying resurrection awaited them after signing an MOU with the faction known as the pinnacle of necromancy.
In Ivan's opinion, he wasn't playing the most important role in this mission. (Certainly not the dwarves. They just needed to march forward. Ivan never expected human roles from moles anyway.)
Though he roughly named it "East-West Strategy," that wasn't the core of this operation. If he were to properly reference that historical tactic, it should have been called "East+East+East" while simultaneously being "West+West+West."
Three different operations from three directions had to function perfectly complementary to each other while each serving as the main axis of the operation.
Ivan was bait for operations in other areas, while simultaneously being the field agent targeting Aviditas's subordinates.
The dwarves were bait to support Ivan and Enrique, while simultaneously being the main force blocking the rebel army.
Enrique was bait to divert attention from Ivan and the dwarves, while simultaneously creating confusion in enemy headquarters to rescue the secretary's son.
On this board, there was no role of being used as bait and then exiting. Everyone had to play their part and succeed simultaneously.
Therefore, Enrique's role was most crucial.
She couldn't reveal her position as the secretary's son might be moved elsewhere if detected.
Yet simultaneously, she had to let the enemy headquarters know that someone might be targeting the secretary's son.
Because the VIP extraction had to be executed without error alongside the completion of operations in other areas.
That's why Lucia was here. While there was no need to communicate with the dwarves, she needed to maintain constant communication with Enrique.
Ivan closed his pocket watch with a snap and looked at Lucia.
"Again?"
"Yes, again."
Lucia closed her eyes, waited for the signal, and then nodded. Ivan let out a small sigh. All the potential target points Enrique had explored were wrong. This was the third time.
Day 5 of "East-West Strategy." By this time, they should have discovered the facility where the secretary's son was being held.
Five locations were considered. These were carefully selected places where they could detain the kidnapped VIP, block rescue attempts by special forces, and easily communicate with the outside in case of emergency.
They had already searched three of them. This wasn't just searching a single building; it meant searching an entire enemy regiment garrison without being detected—a task no less difficult than Ivan's.
But three out of five should have yielded results by now. Unless by sheer coincidence, the hostage was at the very last candidate location.
"Ah, sir! Another one's coming! Wow, they're really bunched up this time!"
"Move to position C-11 and take cover. I'll strike in 15 seconds."
"Ah, wait, wait a moment!!"
Lucia hurriedly ran along the shadows to the opposite side of the building. Ivan shouldered his rifle and shifted his gaze.
Beyond the broken window, a trembling dwarf stood in the square.
The dwarf was injured, sobbing, and screaming. Ivan stared at the dwarf's contorted face through his scope, then indifferently turned the muzzle.
"Just wait a bit! I'm coming right away!!"
A group of terrified dwarves approached, wearing armor plates exceeding standard equipment regulations.
Five of them.
Ivan carefully examined the dwarves' armaments through his scope. Their frontal armor was impenetrable with his current ammunition.
He narrowed his strained eyes and slowly regulated his breathing. He already knew this weapon's specifications from several test shots. Like all dwarf-made firearms, it was an incredibly precise mechanism.
Half-exhaling, pausing, he slid his index finger into the trigger guard. The spring's half-tension felt good against his fingertip.
He aimed at a spot 1.5cm below the shoulder plate. The chain section that appears when the arm is raised. Even that couldn't be penetrated with a single bullet, but it was the most vulnerable point from the front.
-Bang—!!
At the moment of firing, the dwarf at the front sharply raised his head.
'They have line-of-fire detection.'
Though they hadn't spotted Ivan, they seemed to have identified his cover position. The dwarf quickly gestured and shouted something loudly.
Ivan's enhanced hearing caught a whistling sound. Artillery fire was incoming. They had located his position and were attempting to bombard it.
There was about a 3-second window between firing and impact. And for superhumans, 3 seconds is more absolute than the stated figure. Ivan was already moving his hands with narrowed eyes.
-Click.
Before the sparks from the first bullet's impact had subsided, his hands had completed reloading. Still in a shouldered position, completely controlling the recoil with both arms, again. Bang.
-Clang!!
The bullet, hitting within 0.1mm of its target, struck the chain section precisely. The impact, exceeding the tensile strength, loosened the chain section.
Seeing the sparks fly, click, he swiftly reloaded.
Crunch, tightening his muscles to align the sight.
Hoo... exhaling the final breath to steady his breathing.
-Bang—!!
-Crack!!
As the chain section broke, the shoulder plate came loose. Ivan threw away his rifle and grabbed a javelin. With line-of-fire detection, repeating the same attack was pointless. The target would certainly dodge once the armor was broken.
Dodge this.
Ivan's right arm extended to its limit with a cracking sound. He immediately twisted his waist, adding half-elastic force to launch the spear.
Whoosh, the spear tore through the air like an arrow. The moment the javelin flew, Ivan lowered his body and ran.
-Tap.
He kicked off the window frame. In the dizzying sensation of floating, he twisted his posture. The moment he revealed himself, more than seven shots were detected by the line-of-fire detection.
Deflecting what could be deflected, avoiding what could be avoided, and diverting what needed to be diverted with his armored left hand. Ivan's form momentarily blurred.
-Clang, crack!!
He kicked off the wall that suddenly appeared before him. Next. He kicked off another wall. Even while jumping through the air, Ivan's gaze remained fixed on the square.
Twisting his body whenever he sensed an alert from the line-of-fire detection, compensating for the altered movement path, charging again, kicking off walls. Finally.
-Crunch!!
When the dwarf who barely dodged his javelin hurriedly regained his posture.
"You bastard!!"
Ivan landed right in front of him, pulling up the javelin stuck in the ground.
The javelin, firmly embedded in the ground, was still vibrating with residual energy. Ivan raised the spear and drove it straight into the dwarf's shoulder plate.
The spear blade, shattering the shoulder blade and crushing the kneecap, tore through the neck and emerged on the other side.
Feeling the crunching sensation in his hand, Ivan ducked as soon as he released the spear shaft.
-Bang—!! Ratatata!!
Numerous bullets embedded themselves in the dwarf's body, who died without even having time to scream. It's fine. The dwarf's armor plate couldn't be penetrated from the front even with dwarf-made bullets.
They would need to bring heavy weapons. And those heavy weapons were just now hitting his initial cover position.
-Boom—!!
Ivan felt the heat surging behind him as he reached back. An axe and a dagger came into his grasp.
He drew them out and threw himself toward the next target. The dwarf, just recovering from shock, was hurriedly charging at him with a battle hammer.
-Crunch!
Twisting his body to avoid the hammer, he stabbed the dagger between the chain gauntlets around the wrist. As strength drained from the dwarf's grip, he swung his right arm to strike with the axe.
Crack! Sparks flew from the dwarf's nape. The axe blade was blocked, but not the impact. The dwarf's posture faltered.
He drove the dagger into the loosened chain section again. Boom, boom, boom. Three strikes in a single breath. The armor securing the dwarf's helmet and shoulder plate was torn off.
Ivan called this "operation" a "can opener." Only about five agents in the Annihilation Squad could perform this feat.
-Clang!!
The moment the helmet flew off, he swung the axe to finish it. After confirming death by the sensation of the cervical spine completely shattering in the nape, he threw himself forward.
"This... monster...!!"
The remaining dwarves screamed and fled. He couldn't waste any more time. The gunfire triggering the line-of-fire detection was starting to exceed the area he could respond to.
Whoosh, he heard the sound of the next artillery fire. Ivan immediately raised his left arm to shield his neck with the armor plate. Ping, a bullet hit his hand and ricocheted off.
"Spider...!!"
The dwarf hanging from the pole gasped and glared at Ivan with hateful eyes. Ivan glanced indifferently at the sight before dashing back into the city center.
The sounds of artillery and gunfire continued long after his figure disappeared from the square. After several more bullets struck the square, silence finally returned.
The dwarf slowly lowered his head and sobbed. Like prey caught in a spider's web.
Within less than 10 seconds of the rescue team appearing in this square, two of his kinsmen who had rushed to save him collapsed as corpses.
This was the Spider's combat method.
The Annihilation Squad's standard manual records a tactic called "ant lion."
It refers to leaving an injured soldier in a highly visible position, then picking off the troops dispatched to rescue that soldier one by one.
The presence of an ally screaming day and night in a visible location itself undermines the morale of the entire army. The opponent is forced to choose between shooting the injured soldier to end it or attempting a rescue while accepting casualties.
The typical solution is to dispatch superhuman soldiers for rescue. This is natural. The manual focuses on neutralizing enemy reinforcements through sniping.
Superhumans cannot be eliminated by sniping due to line-of-fire detection. Therefore, the original "ant lion" tactic is meaningless against superhumans.
That's when Ivan's reputation began to spread among enemies.
Whenever elite units like superhuman soldiers were dispatched, he would appear from somewhere to ambush them, then dangle the bait again, waiting for the next superhuman to be deployed.
Spreading his web and sharpening his venomous fangs in the darkness.
That's how he earned the nickname "Spider." The dwarves had to learn Ivan's nickname before his real name. And by the time his real name became known, he had become a legend in the dwarf intelligence department.
The legend killed by Aviditas was once again casting its shadow over dwarf society.
The headquarters' decision to predict Ivan's entry and prepare traps was remarkably swift and accurate. Their quick initial response minimized meaningless losses.
Even if the Hero himself intervened, firepower capable of confronting him head-on was arrayed at the center of the munitions factory. This should have been enough. That's what they thought.
If he wanted to kill dwarves and shut down the factory, he would have to charge in from the front. All other paths had been blocked.
But when the first night passed and a dwarf was caught in the spider's web, they recalled the memory of the Spider.
Even if they bombed the area where he was expected to be stationed, the next day another dwarf would be hanging from a pole.
If they sent a search party, the entire party would disappear, and one survivor would be hanging from a pole again.
When they mobilized all the goblins for a wide-area search, everything remained quiet for a while, but eventually another pole would be erected elsewhere. Naturally, a dwarf would be hanging from it.
Days passed like this.
When the screaming dwarf fell silent, the act of tying up another dwarf was repeated.
Openly flaunting the ability to infiltrate and silently abduct one person to display in the square.
After two more days like this.
When they realized they hadn't set a trap but had fallen into one, and chose to barricade themselves to prevent further losses.
When the remaining dwarves finally lost their will to fight and were convulsing in panic.
-Rumble—!!
The entire munitions factory began to vibrate.
The sound of fluttering wings echoed throughout the cavern, louder than artillery fire. Looking up, the dwarf whispered in a small flicker of hope:
"Has he come...?!"
A swarm of bats filled the cavern ceiling and took flight. Snakes, lizards, centipedes, and rats—underground vermin—began pouring in like waves from the tunnels beyond the cavern.
Hissing noises filled the air everywhere, and when they finally spread throughout the factory area:
[Ivan Petrovich—!!!]
A voice like scraping metal plates echoed thunderously throughout the factory area.
Ivan closed his pocket watch with a snap and rose to his feet.
Underground "East-West Strategy" Day 7.
05:30.
Finally, the target had arrived at the trap.