Machinist of Mana Chapter 118 To Finish It

There was no wind in my sails for my grim work. I reloaded and moved to the next cart, cutting one more free. I'd considered leaving it, but that was senseless, what if one of the goblins got back in there and did hid or something else foolish? No, it was better for me to make their area smaller and smaller as I went, preventing me from having to deal with any issues from behind. The better option was to take away their places to run, like rats in a trap, then slaughter them.

As for the large one I'd slain, I took a moment to leave a tablecloth over him. Regardless of the fact that we'd been enemies and he'd nearly killed me he'd been civilized, he deserved a civilized death. Had he not cared for the other one of his kind he may well have won, but as war was like that. Nobody knew who would die for sure, nobody knew if they were coming back.

The next car was a kitchen, and here I found another of the attackers, though not inside it. He saw me coming from the window on the far side, himself between the cars. What a terror I must have been to him, with blood on my clothing and a blade still slick with the red life of his brother. We met eyes and he turned, running for his life.

I followed him, pausing only to cut loose the car as he sprinted through the first class dining car and towards the very front of the train. It seemed on this particular one they'd set things so that the front riding passengers and the lower class ones never needed to meet, not uncommon, but it pricked against my sensibilities a bit.

As the last of the food related cars began to fall back I moved into the first class car. It was the same size as the others, but seemed more spacious. There were less people of course, with larger areas for each. More expensive tickets, more fancy placements.

The people were gathered into a huddle in a small cleared space, ten total. None of these bore the fancy clothing of the aristocracy, nor had they killed these beasts, so if they had any magic it couldn't be much. Around them were the last four of the lesser goblins, the one who'd run from me heaving as he approached the other three. Before I could charge he ripped a girl from her parents and held a blade to her throat.

“Done fleeing?” I asked, tired of this.

Outside the landscapes flew past, the wheels even making noises of anger as the whole vehicle sped to levels it had never been designed for.

“Stop! If you don't I'll slit her throat! Drop the weapon!” he shouted.

I did not drop my sword.

“Do you know how far this has gone?” I asked.

“I'm not lying!” Did he even hear me?

“Soldiers are coming, they will kill everyone,” I told him.

“Wait, hold on!” one of the three who'd been here before shouted to both of us. I noticed all were female; it seemed father had chosen a large proportion for of women for his new nest. “What do you mean?”

“Men are coming, they will kill all of us. They will kill you, they will kill me, they will kill that child. Threatening her changes nothing, she will die regardless if I stop. The only way I have to save anyone, is to make sure you're not around anymore,” I informed them calmly.

“We need to tell Father,” one of the goblin girls said. “He'll know what to do. Listen human, when he gets here we can talk.”

The male flinched.

“Granen don't do something stupid!” she yelled as the little knife pricked the girl, making a drop of blood roll down her neck. “Wait till we get Father!”

Granen must have been his name, for as she shouted at him he turned to look. It was enough for me, and in one fluid motion I drew my pistol and shot, unable to miss at this distance. I couldn't let them get Father, let him plan anything.

Screaming was everywhere, the goblins, the terrified child, several of the passengers who thought I'd just killed her, everywhere. The last three goblins charged, each making a small projectile in their hands, some kind of minor spell. I wasn't alone now through, and some of these men understood that my words hadn't just been for the goblins, they'd been for them too.

The three goblin girls had thought the passengers cowed, but a man reached out as they turned to me, a burst of ice plastering one into the wall, blood spraying as he did. The spell from another flew wide, a ball of red fire that hit somewhere behind me with a blast of heat. Finally came a ball of water, which I cut in two with my sword, shattering the construct before it could do much at all, though I still got quite wet.

Passengers surged over one of the two remaining goblins as I stepped forward, a clean slice taking the head off the other. As for the final one, angry men slammed her into the ground, arms grasped by hands that looked unused to violence.

“NO PLEASE!” she screamed, but as she did I saw another fireball growing in her palm.

I knew it was panic, fear making her cast, but I couldn't risk it. Had she not done that perhaps I could have spared her, risky, but perhaps. With her still using magic though I had no choice.

Putting aside mercy I brought the point of my blade down, straight through her heart.

“I'm sorry,” I whispered.

“Good work son,” one of the men said, clapping me on the shoulder as I stood. I ignored him, not wanting praise for this, it was not a happy thing, not some joyous act. No, it was war, it was brutal, terrible, and full of victims.

But there was also a perpetrator, the one who'd caused all of this.

“Where are you going?” a woman asked shakily as I walked away from the nervous passengers.

“To finish it,” I informed her. “There's only one left.”

The final cart I passed through was for staff, and full of them. Stewards and stewardesses were laid upon the floor, shaking, seemingly unable to rise.

“H-h-h-h,” one of them tried to speak as I walked over her.

“It's going to be okay,” I said, hoping to believe it myself. “Help is coming, but I cannot stay.”

“W-w-w,” his voice trembled, unable to form even a word.

“Stay, it will be fine,” I assured again as I moved to the door.

I cut that car away too before looking at the engine. It was what was propelling us forward, and where I sensed I would find my enemy, the true enemy, not those he'd thrown against me, but the one who truly deserved my ire.

As calmly as I could I opened the door, stepping inside but leaving it to flap out behind me. It went unnoticed though, as I could hear shouting from the front.

“We can't go any faster, and we need to slow down you foolish beast! At this speed if we hit any kind of curve we'll derail and all die,” a man screamed in desperation.

“Not one bit, keep going, there's been no problem up until now and I won't hear your lies!” Then I saw him turn, looking back to where I was. “You!”

“Isn't that enough Parkov?” I asked using his former name.

“My children, where are they?”

“You know.”

“Monster! They were my greatest creations, and you murdered them? To what end? Surely you know you'll lose.”

“The only ones who will survive this are those you left to die. They betrayed you you know.” I had to think for a moment, for perhaps I could save the conductor too, but more importantly I had to make sure Parkov died.

I could read the tools here, see the danger. Some of them looked almost modern, but some looked cartoonishly old school. The speed control was a lever, one pulled to increase or decrease the power to the wheels. Gauges were going crazy too, showing danger everywhere. I might not have been a trained conductor, but I'd been on enough trains and seen enough engine rooms to know that.

Seeing out the front window I saw something else too. In the far distance soldiers were moving, doing something, trying to stay hidden. We had perhaps a minute, perhaps a bit more.

“Foolish, you can't defeat me,” he began to monologue.

The conductor, in an act of heroism grabbed for a wrench. Sadly the priest was faster, a pulse of magic making the man fall as blood leaked from his eyes. The same hit me and it hurt, making me fall to my knees.

“Ow,” I gasped.

“Ow indeed. I'm going to kill you now young man, but first I want you to know. I want you to know that I will survive,” he began as he advanced towards me. “I will rebuild, making more children, greater children, and then I'll improve the whole world. You could have joined me, could have been more, but no, you'll die a pathetic, broken fool.” He patted his stomach. “I alone am enough.”

He reached down, and I threw my hand up, wrapping it around his throat. Another pulse hit me, and it hurt, but I'd learned to deal with that.

“Magic not working like it should?” I asked as I charged forward, slamming him into the speed control hard enough to impale him.

“I can survive far more than this!” he hissed as he struggled like a pinned animal.

“Maybe,” I said as I looked up seeing the men who had been sent to stop this moving about the tracks. “But not that.”

“What?” he asked as he tried to turn, but was unable to.

Mages were calling stone blocks up out of the ground and moving them across the track. To the sides more were coming out of the nearby foliage, reading weapons and spells. We were only moments away.

“You know, you can keep the train,” I informed him as I bent the handle between two pipes and bolted, running for the door.

“This isn't over!” he screamed as I bolted out the opening, jumping for all I was worth.

It was a strange sensation. The train had been moving at an incredible speed, but so had I. It wasn't like I was really moving much in the direction I'd tried to go, merely bleeding off some of the speed, slowing the rate at which the ground seemed to be pushing past me.

The ground still rose up to meet me at speed, but more like being thrown from a horse than from a car. I rolled, dropping the sword I'd not bothered to use on the psychopathic priest. Three times I bounced, three times until I came to rest, sore, but alive.

A second later impact echoed across the land, bending and rending of metal. The screaming noise as the pipes bent in ways they'd never meant to and the cabin crushed. It was followed seconds after by a wave of heat and the unmistakable sound of rifle reports.

In me there was a great debate, to look back or no. The part of me that wanted to look cool forbade such an action, screaming that I must resist. Curiosity though ordered me to turn, to watch the literal train wreck.

The question was solved as I rose and found a dozen or so soldiers advancing on me, weapons drawn. Curiosity would have to deal with it, since those were more immediately important.

“Good afternoon gentlemen.” A friendly smile formed on my lips. “Everything well?”