Machinist of Mana Chapter 116 Rescue Begins

It took only minutes for the plane to be back in working order and I looked at our runway.

“It's short,” grandfather said.

“It's what we have, and it should be long enough,” I returned, but he was right, it was shorter than I'd have liked.

“We go then?”

“We go.”

Things were worse here than I could've feared. They'd been caught just as unprepared, and 'Father' no, Parkov, hadn't held back, he and his group had slaughtered dozens and dozens, bodies laid out in rows. Now it was our time to go for him, to take him down.

Grandpa gunned it and we sped down the road that was our only runway. Feet sped by around us, shopfronts appearing and disappearing as we went faster and faster until I finally felt the wheels leave the ground. Just in time too, as we barely cleared the roof of an old inn, a mermaid sign hanging over its door.

Higher and higher we climbed, needing to see to get our bearings properly and orient via the maps we had. Exion was massive, but this city, it was on another level entirely, street after street stretched, making my home look like a small town in comparison. It was old too, lacking the more grid-like layout of the island city and following more organic paths instead, grids only appearing in the outer sections of the settlement.

There was no time to waste though, and once we had our bearings we set off. Finding the train station was easy enough, and the tracks that led off from it not much harder. Even then we didn't follow it exactly. This particular train had been made early on, and wasn't particularly straight, curving a bit around hills and valleys carved into the landscape. We had no need to do so, instead going to where it would be.

“We should've seen it by now!” grandfather shouted over the wind.

He was right, and as I looked down towards the tracks I scanned. Trains only went so fast, so where was it? My eyes followed the track away and soon got their answer, a cloud of steam in the distance, a few miles ahead.

“They're going fast!” I observed. “We need to do the same to catch up!”

That worried me, this plane was only designed for so long a flight, and for so much speed, but grandfather didn't flinch, pushing us forward even faster. For a moment I worried, knowing that we were going to be at the upper end of our range with all these flights, but one look at the gauges told me that we had no issue at all. The amount of mana left in our engine wasn't full, but it was far higher than I might have expected.

“We're using less mana!” I told him, the roar of the air taking my words.

“No you fool boy I'm feeding it, now hold on!”

We closed in, a silent falcon slowly approaching the prey from behind, ready to strike. Their billowing steam clouds hid our approach as much as they could, and the fact that we were silent as possible meant they'd have no warning.

As our plane got close enough I shoved myself out of my seat, holding on with all my strength and got forward, speaking in grandpa's ear.

“Provide me air support, keep the plane close, and once I've cleared a car I'll cut it free from the train. None of them escape.” He nodded at my words and pulled us as close as sanity allowed.

A boy sat in the back of the train, and as we neared I looked up, seeing his eyes widen in shock. His face, streaked with tears blinked at me. How strange we must look, an old man and barely a man, flying behind them on a craft he'd never even imagined. I met his eyes, nodded, smiled, and leapt sword in hand and ready for battle.

Ten feet had never felt further, a leap so small was something I could practically do in my sleep, but with the wind whipping at my coat and hair and the roar of the wheels on the track it felt so far, so far to the ground that flowed below us like it wasn't even real.

I didn't even land before my blade began to move. The headmaster had claimed it could cut steel like paper and it was time to test that out, for I didn't want anyone warning the other goblins that I had arrived before I got a chance to begin. My borrowed blade arced up and through the door before me an instant before my foot landed on the railing behind it and I catapulted forward.

“Mommy!” I heard the boy cry out as I blasted through the doorway taking in the scene as fast as I could.

All along the car men and women were sitting, scared, pulled back, while in the aisle stood a green humanoid, looking towards the front. There was only one here, only one enemy so I kept on with my charge, feet slamming down as fast as I could work them. He didn't even have time to turn before I reached him, a flash of steel separating his head from his body before he even realized I'd begun.

There was a collective gasp around me as time returned to normal. A goblin head thunked upon the floor before a spray of blood blasted across the aisle, pumping as the creature's heart kept going for a few seconds, trying to keep him alive.

I looked down at my enemy, and he was different. More human, less bestial, and the ears, all goblins had slightly pointed ears, but his were... more, the shape different, more graceful, more... elven. That was bad, that was very, very bad. With makeup on his skin he could have passed for human even, or at least a partly elven human.

“Are there others on the car?” I asked, seeing none myself but not foolish enough to think I was perfect.

“I-I sir, there, but,” a woman stammered.

“Answer, quickly for time is of the essence,” I pressed, trying not to be too harsh, but firm.

“No sir, just the one.”

I didn't speak again, nor did I give the rest of the car time to panic as I sped toward the far doorway, the connector between this car and the next. One door opened, then closed behind me and I looked at the connections. They were rather through with these, a large metal hooking mechanism between the cars, and backup chains hanging all around it, just to make sure. I had to hope the sword would cut these as easily as it had the doorway.

With wide sweeps I slashed through the chains, and then, with some trepidation and both hands tried my luck with the connector. The results convinced me I needed one of these, as true to the advertisement it hardly slowed down, feeling almost natural as a near foot thick section of steel parted, a clean slice through it.

“One down,” I declared as friction began to slowly pull the caboose away, eyes looking forward to me from inside as mouths began to shout. If nothing else I'd managed to save at least those people, now for the rest of them.