Bella smiled at Dominic as everyone gave their gear a final check. "Do you really plan to use a mortar launcher in battle?"

Dominic nodded, and took out the shoulder mounted tube. "It takes about ten seconds to reload, but the shot is quite effective. I have given them to the Royal Guards under Princess Alexis as well, so the army will have at least ten of them when they arrive.

They are excellent for breaking charges, though I can cast spells and fire pistols faster than I can shoot mortars, so they’re a secondary option most of the time."

The Adventurers smiled at his description of artillery as a ’secondary option’. But none of them could truly appreciate what it was like not to have to worry about running out of mana.

"We will have the mages open a portal in the general vicinity of the threat, as identified by the airships. We will have to walk a few kilometres, but that shouldn’t be too big of an issue, as we want to identify smaller groups to ambush, and not get ourselves tied up with a large fight." Dominic instructed.

The Adventurers nodded, and Dominic noticed that one of them strapped a large radio pack to his back.

That should have better range than the small unit that Dominic had gotten from the Techno Wizards, but it did have a tall antenna, which would be easy to spot in the open.

Presumably, the first priority would be to get in contact with the airships when they arrived, and get a live update on the situation, so they could start placing the portals for the army.

They wanted to circle the force and attack from all directions, so they would be doing a lot of walking today.

The two male mages opened a portal, while Amie moved to stand beside Dominic with her pistols in hand. She might be a mage, but most spells could be cast through a magical weapon if you had the skill.

Adding a spell to the mana bullets wouldn’t be hard for someone of her training, and Dominic was eager to see what she could do with it.

The portal opened to a wooded area with limited visibility, and the older of the mages nodded in satisfaction.

"There are Goblins two hundred metres ahead of us. I used [Skimming] to find the right spot, so we should be on the close side of the main force. If we eliminate these, we can work our way around the army and place the beacons." He whispered.

"Gunslingers, we’re in front. Once we engage, let the Goblins start to charge, and the warriors can move to intercept. Goblins aren’t too bright, they’ll head straight for us instead of trying to circle if they think we’re soft." Dominic replied quietly.

That would also let them get the maximum number of clear shots off before the warriors were in battle.

The other two gunslingers nodded, then moved into position before turning to Dominic.

"I don’t suppose that offer of a mana pistol on credit still stands, does it? I foresee this day being hard on ammunition, even with a [Create Munitions] magitech orb." One of them whispered.

Dominic smiled and held out a level six Uncommon Grade mana pistol to each of them.

"One is less expensive than two. Let me know if you want to buy a second, I have more." He agreed.

Bella giggled softly at Dominic’s response. He really was the consummate businessman. He even made them feel grateful to be indebted to him for an item that would clean out their life savings.

Dominic led the way through the woods until he saw the Goblins, then turned to the mage who had skimmed for their location.

"Is this really the best spot you could find?" He asked.

The mage shrugged. "It’s just a scout group."

Dominic shook his head. There were two hundred Goblins and fifty Hobgoblins here, to their twenty adventurers. Not impossible, but if this was the size of the average scouting group, they were going to need more than one day to make their way around the army of monsters.

Dominic took out one of the Rare Grade mana pistols he had just made, and left his other hand free to cast [Arcane Blast], so he could recover mana and heal any injuries he might take.

"On your signal." Amie decided once the two gunslingers were back in position.

"Alright, subtlety it is." Dominic agreed.

[Bee Swarm] at level thirteen from his spell book created a massive horde of stinging insects that dive bombed the monsters with all the protective anger that they could muster.

The Goblins and Hobgoblins began to scream and swat at the bees, a cry that would not bring reinforcements. Nobody would come running for this particular emergency.

Dominic held up his free hand to count down.

[3, 2, 1]

He began firing his pistol and [Arcane Blasts] at the same time, as fast as two pistols, while the other gunslingers joined in.

With the noise of the wounded Goblins, the pistols were hardly audible. But there was one small issue. The Goblins were not charging at them.

The Bee Swarm was so large and so dense that they hadn’t even noticed that they were under attack by a second force.

Row by row, the Goblin patrol fell, until only bees remained.

"That spell is just plain nasty. Where did you even learn that?" Amie asked.

"The witch coven gave it to me as a first meeting gift. Lovely, isn’t it?"

The diminutive mage smiled at him. "I like it. Nobody comes to the rescue when you scream that you’re being stung to death by a swarm of bees. Now, we just need them to lead the way, and we can clear a path through the scouts."

One of the male mages held up a rune covered bag. "I have a large storage bag if we want to distribute loot at the end of the day."

Dominic looked toward the adventurers, and realized that the Warriors certainly wouldn’t object if they were going to get a share of the loot without fighting.

"Alright, everyone can pass the mana cores to the mage. I know where he lives, he won’t make off with your shares." Dominic instructed.

It would also save some of the fights about who was trying to loot more than their share at the end of the battles.