The World Dragon's Heir

Chapter 442: Root of the Issue

Having over a dozen Mountain Trolls in their ranks immediately emboldened the militia once the two groups had joined.

The trolls smashed everything in front of them, while the militia used spears to keep the monsters from getting too close to the Trolls, or surrounding the group. With Dominic and Amie firing from the flanks, it was a beautiful tactic, and they weren’t even being hard-pressed anymore.

"Keep the monsters out from under the Trolls’ feet. As long as you keep them at club range, they will take care of the hard work." Dominic instructed as he reloaded his pistols.

General Alator barked orders to the militiamen, and Dominic smiled as the old General settled back into his element.

When he had arrived here, he was a retired man, his wealth long spent to support his family, and his glory years decades past. But now, as the head of training for the Militia, he was really showing why he deserved the title of General.

It was a bit odd to use the title in a small town, especially in reference to the head of the militia, but retired or not, he still deserved the rank.

Under his directions, the militiamen kept the Goblins they were currently facing from getting a single solid hit on the Trolls, who happily swung their clubs over the line of spears, aiming for heads.

They were quite pleased with the spear line tactic.

"Do we have any updates on the situation near the airship docks?" General Alator asked.

Dominic shrugged, then handed him the portable radio from his storage.

"You listen for reports, I’ve got both hands full."

The old man chuckled as he turned the magitech radio on, and a constant stream of orders and reinforcement requests burst from the speakers.

The army units had things mostly under control, but there were still open portals spewing more monsters at them, and the airships reported a dome of magic in the back lines, where the mages had set up a command station.

They were headed that way, but the General wasn’t sure that they had the firepower to actually do what needed to be done when they got there.

If possible, a continual bombardment by a pair of gunships would be best, to keep the defensive barrier weakened. But trying to request it when they were needed all over the region wouldn’t be easy.

Plus, their unit was incredibly small. Priority would be given to a full Regiment who had a better chance of success.

Well, a better chance of success by standard metrics.

The logic behind those metrics rarely applied to Dominic, and while he was out here with Amie, it was even less relevant. With high level magitech weapons, they had a clear advantage over the traditional mages who might be leading the invasion, and only someone on the level of an Archmage would be able to overcome their barrage.

"Once we get close enough that we are free of the monsters, I will set a beacon for the Sect. A strike team should be enough to break the barrier, and then we can work on taking out the mages." Amie explained.

"That works for me. General, sorry to do this to your militia, but we will need them with us a while longer."

General Alator saluted in response, simply accepting that his team had drawn the short straw this time.

If the Duke thought that he could stop the monster invasion by taking out the mages, then it was their duty to make sure he got there. At least he hadn’t asked them to do it alone, they had the trolls on their side.

"Boss, they are sending big Goblins to us." Dave announced, his deep Trollish voice rumbling like rocks grinding together.

"I see them. Did you want to smash them, or should I blow them up?"

The troll took half a second to decide. "Blow them up."

Amie laughed as Dominic lit and hurled another grenade.

"You’re going to wear a groove in your horn doing that. We should make you an igniter to wear as a decoration."

Dominic winked at her. "It regenerates."

Amie turned her pistols on the Hobgoblins, keeping them from getting close enough to slow the advance of the Trolls, while General Alator guided the militia to defend their formation and marvelled at Dominic’s throwing arm.

Sure, he had strength bonuses, but the Duke should have played professional sports with aim like that.

The rippling explosions were attracting more attention from the monsters, and the horde of Goblins and Hobgoblins was still growing, despite the thousands of bodies on the ground.

So many had been killed that the militia had to walk carefully, as every step was on top of a corpse as they advanced, and you never knew when a Goblin could have something sharp on them.

Amie frowned at Dominic. "We’re not going to make it to the mages at this rate."

Dominic didn’t respond right away, he just listened to the radio reports blaring out from the pack on the General’s back.

"I don’t think that we need to. The armies are pushing outward from the city now, and within the hour they’ll likely be joining us.

Just keep doing what we’re doing, and don’t forget to loot as many corpses as we can."

Amie smiled. "Can’t forget about the loot."

"I hate to dim your optimism, but if we keep pushing forward, we’re going to be surrounded." General Alator warned.

A group of Goblins had detached from another fight, and they were coming from the right side, while the horde in front of them was spreading out.

The General was right, they were going to be surrounded.

"This is what the army calls a target rich environment, I believe."

Amie nodded. "Poor bastards are about to have us surrounded. We’ll be able to kill them everywhere we look."

The militia laughed at the thought. The two of them were insane, but their confidence was infectious.

"You have a plan, right? Standard tactic is a turtle shell spear wall." Alator replied.

"Of course. Amie, you have a plan, right?"

The little mage rolled her eyes. "Yes, I have an area of effect spell for this situation. But I am a mage, I can just use [Area Barrier] to keep the Goblins at bay while we kill them."