akasoindustries

136 - Near-zero Rejection Index [Cherno]

“I would prefer not to consider the possibility that he meant it literally… And I am not well-versed in the varied morphs of the evoy. I specialize in human grafting, after all. Look into it on your own time; you ought to have access to the relevant sections. Texts regarding the Great Plague could be relevant, though the involvement of vedesians in that conflict was… Tertiary at best. Conflicts going further back into the past would enlighten you more as to how the evoy became the way t...

299 - Array Patterns [Sturmblitz]

Zefaris herself wasn’t sure how, but the great array unfolded before her eye as if it were far simpler than it truly was. She kept noticing patterns, one after the next, half-consciously picking out smaller glyphs whose functions were only made evident by their placement in the greater whole. It was half the labour of her eyes, and half mental conditioning kicking into overdrive.

She’d felt this before.

Back then, in the killing fields. She had known a handful of techniques, t...

135 - Contractors May or May Not be Loaded [Cherno]

A/N: I got the uhh
the god damn uh
i slept away most of the last two days

___________________________________________________________________________________________
“Well, eh… Contractors’re loaded, right?” the owner prodded.

“High-rankers, maybe,” she scoffed. Despite Casus’ words, her conception of real-estate prices remained twisted, and so she had decided to manipulate the price downward as much as possible. “I figured I might be able to afford the pl...

134 - Re: Green-eyed Demon [Cherno]

Saeed pulled a cable from his arm, slotting its end into a physical slot on the side of Cassius’ head. One which hadn’t been there before. With the grafter’s cold metal fingers resting against his freshly-shaven, sore, stitched-together scalp, he heard the man’s abnormally soft voice echo in his head.

“Don’t try to move, alright? You’re five kinds of fucked up. I had to go digging around in your skull, scoop out and replace what was left of your visual cortex and some othe...

298 - Flesh Unions [Sturmblitz]

Zefaris received another aetherwave message, mere moments after having struck down the Flesh Sculptor.

“Elder Zefaris, I request that you minimize physical damage to the flesh beasts if it does not impede forward progress overmuch. I wish to make use of them,” Victor’s voice rang out inside her head.

“Are you certain that your plan will work?” she asked back.

“If what I wish to do fails, I will abandon it,” came an answer right away.<...

297 - Prayers [Sturmblitz]

Within the cathedral, upon its topmost floor, two men stood, both wearing gold-embroidered white robes. One looked no older than twenty five, agelessly stuck at the peak of physical condition, while the other had a long, white beard and hair, and his face was scrunched up with wrinkles.

“The preparations are nearly ready, Elder Third,” said the wrinkled man.

“Good,” smiled the Third Truthseeker. He took a sip from a gilded chalice, plundered from the church’s altar, now ...

133 - The Aftereffects of a Femme Fatale's Involvement Pt. 2 [Cherno]

A/N: Posted the wrong chapter draft. Fixed.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
“Hey, hey, don’t worry. I’m not gonna scoop your brain out of your head,” Semzar reassured unconvincingly. “I’m just asking. You’ve seen the pictures, right? Trash. Those self-proclaimed artists don’t even know how to draw burnt skin. I just hoped that you might have a good mental snapshot of the target and the ability to draw it, that’...

132 - The Aftereffects of a Femme Fatale's Involvement [Cherno]

The Thing From Beyond swam about and wrapped itself around his soul, and forced him to understand, simply pushing knowledge into him. Barzai thought he would split in half and depart for his next life, leaving his astral body as food for the Things From Beyond.

It did not come to pass.

He awoke back in his hut, hacking up his lungs and blue-burning sludge, covered in astral gunk… And with knowledge of the Liminal Coil’s possessor in his brain. Brunhilde Krahe.

It suddenl...

296 - The Demon Named Zero [Sturmblitz]

It had been unsettlingly easy to integrate the Dragon’s Nerves with Zero’s drive train. Their glistening-yellow, almost golden-looking tissue didn’t react until Strake fired up the engine. But the moment he did, they greedily began drinking up all its output. Hours later, the bundle of nerves had split apart and enveloped the drive train, like a parasite desperately latching onto a new host.

There was no doubt in Strake’s mind that the reason was the “special fuel cell additiv...

295 - Golden Death From on High [Sturmblitz]

A/N: I forgot to write the paragraph where Joseph actually swings his mace. Fixed.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Death’s Lieutenant pulled the trigger at the exact right moment, no sooner and no later, to ensure that its single shot would strike at the same moment as the five others. It was not a mere comet, but a meteor worth comparing to the great feat enacted by Sigmund during the Battle of Ubul’s...

ONIER BIONICA: COMIC BY ILLUSTRATOR OF CHERNO CASTER AND RETRIBUTION ENGINE

A friend and author of several artworks for both Cherno and Engine, Herbyfox, has just released a short comic. It's just 24 pages, please give it a read.

ONIER BIONICA

131 - Return it to the Depths [Cherno]

A/N: Corrected a paragraph halfway through the chapter that had somehow been replaced with a duplicate paragraph from earlier in the chapter.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Even now, as he raised up his scimitar, its handle wrought of Mnarian Grey Stone and inscribed with the sign of the Great Fivefold Eye, the Thing From Beyond struggled and writhed to squeeze through the veil. Even now, it whispered to him, spe...

294 - Vs. Flesh Sculptor Pt. 2 [Sturmblitz]

Neither Victor’s Servitors nor Lady Zefaris’ Phantoms truly had wills of their own, and if he just ordered his Servitors to act subordinate to the Phantoms unless an override command was given, any control conflicts would be minimized. The artificial cores passively fuelling his servitors combined with the remnants of a warrior’s fighting will would easily equal, or perhaps even surpass, Old Kanbu’s Dragonfire Reignition technique. Moreover, the numbers of Lady Zefaris’ Phantoms sur...

130 - De Re Theurgia [Cherno]

The brush was soon joined by an ancient-looking bamboo-slip scroll, pulled out of a partition with at least twelve more identical scrolls. Not just in make and thickness, but the wear patterns, too.

“Ah, and take this as well.”

“What’s the catch?” Krahe asked suspiciously.

“The scroll is a collection of oft-missed fundamentals and tricks I put together for my disciples, back when I still had any, so it is quite outdated. The brush is one of my many spares; consid...

293 - Vs. Flesh Sculptor [Sturmblitz]

A/N: In case you're worried about the focus being away from Zel for now, don't fret. The reason is that she will get all the focus in the back half of the arc when it ramps up.

____________________________________________________________________________________
Eyes wide, the Flesh Sculptor pulled the weapon’s course away from herself and made it smash into a nearby house, tearing right through and coming out on the other side. By then, Manus had already followed through on the mot...

129 - Regarding Talismans Pt. 2 [Cherno]

“The backlash will be far more significant in the end result, but as you can see, I am no liar. Should you still not trust me, might I perhaps allow you to watch as I place the contingency upon the finished Cremation Cocoon Talisman?” Yao asked somewhat facetiously.

“No, I believe this will suffice. Our business, as it pertains to my investigation, is concluded, but I still have a request - as a customer. To start - you are familiar with the Wards and Barriers defense paradigm end...

128 - Regarding Talismans [Cherno]

At that moment, she gestured at the paper and splashed a new pattern onto it, creating an eye-like shape with the dot of purple at its center. It was enveloped by golden light and an image came out, slowly solidifying as Yao sharpened her concentration.

“There. I requested one of my employees to look into her suitability as a customer when she was trying to contact me, and he sent this back as part of his report. I’m afraid I know nothing of interest about her, she is not well-known...

292 - The Battle for Eberheim Pt. 3 [Sturmblitz]

Zefaris wholeheartedly wished she had Victor’s multitrack thinking and hypercognition. She was splitting her mind between keeping track of fire-support requests, trying to advance, keeping watch towards the center of the city, and trying to analyze the Red Fog Dome to see if it could be broken.

Then, a scream. Not one that was heard, but felt. A ripple of inconceivable suffering and wretchedness blasted out from the city center, washing over everything like a sickly tide of pure negat...

127 - Deiphage [Cherno]

“An unsettling proposition even from the most generous of perspectives,” Casus chimed in. “What would that make her, then? Not a saint of Chernobog, certainly not an avatar. Once again, the nature of such empowerment would have been detected, and would directly conflict with any Zaveshian relic’s implantation.”

“A divine parasite, perhaps. Like a tarantula hawk wasp…” Krahe thought aloud. She sighed, deciding that since Yao had already dug up the truth, there was no poin...

126 - Talisman Mistress Yao Fu Pt. 5 [Cherno]

Places whose people were too healthy or prosperous were erased, sabotaged, polluted, or erased with desolation magic altogether, all so they couldn’t possibly threaten the power of those who held it. A mighty conqueror, a man born two millennia late through artifice and strange technology, took back a country that looked very much like Tiengenzhen from a pathetic, tyrannical regime, though he himself was also a tyrant of another sort. Dozens of millions burned in sun-like flame during that ...

291 - The Battle for Eberheim Pt. 2 [Sturmblitz]

Death encroaches.

A flying form in crimson-red, tank-sized beasts of flesh and metal at its beck and call, with whirling blades and ballistae easily able to run the Hellhound through.

Death encroaches.

The Hellhound sends the call. A simple ping from the Reaper’s Bride is all he received as affirmation that his request has been heard.

Dozens of needles strike close to vital points, they come within millimeters of piercing skin or a vital conduit, poisoning him to dea...

125 - Talisman Mistress Yao Fu Pt. 4 [Cherno]

After a few moments of consideration, holding Yao’s one-eyed stare, Krahe said: “I need assurances first. What do I get out of this arrangement?”

Yao, perfectly at ease, shrugged: “I’ll help you to the best of my means. It is that simple. I am sure that, in the process of finding me, you have gained an appreciation for the value of having someone such as I in your debt.”

“Casus?” Krahe side-eyed the man.

His Third Eye pulsed with light. He sighed.

“Sh...

Recent Posting Schedule Disruption

Due to IRL interference, the last two weeks have been fairly rough in terms of my posting schedule. Sadly, they start coming and don't stop coming. I'm taking care of an elderly family member for three days this week, meaning no chapters for those three days - Thursday, Friday, Saturday. To compensate at least partially, I'll post a chapter for both Cherno Caster and Retribution Engine on Sunday. I hope to return to normal posting starting next week.

124 - Talisman Mistress Yao Fu Pt. 3 [Cherno]

Casus instantly went wide-eyed as he considered the consequences of Yao’s account being the correct one. He knew of the World Needle, of its purpose, of the Rite of Amrakas. He had never once considered that the supermassive Archon Flash a few weeks back could be a consequence of that rite, rather than just another of Jas’raba’s usual Archon Flashes.

“I had nothing to do with the events leading up to it, of course… But I happened to see that the window was open, so to speak, a...

290 - The Battle for Eberheim [Sturmblitz]

“You dare!” screeched the Puppeteer, two more red-robed individuals rushing to her aid, one controlling a duo of Flesh Beasts and the other, seemingly nothing… Though he exuded danger all the same. Hidden weapons, without a doubt. They all seemed to be using wind magic of some kind to achieve limited flight.

Zefaris didn’t allow them the courtesy of preparation. Hoarfrost spidered out around her feet. In an instant, she went from a derisive tirade against the Order of Six Truths...

123 - Talisman Mistress Yao Fu Pt. 2 [Cherno]

That was enough to shift Yao's facial expression into one of faint surprise and amusement - faint, but very much there. A raised eyebrow, slightly upturned corners of the mouth.

"Both,” Mistress Yao answered. “The real prosthetic is a spiritual construct, the talismans are suspended within it to make it less obvious, provide structural support, and to give me easy access to a great number of them at a moment's notice. In my state I... Cannot reach into my subspace storage with any s...

289 - Phantoms vs. Flesh Beasts [Sturmblitz]

Zefaris had instantly assigned the new creatures the name of Flesh Beasts, differentiating them by unique design elements. The fact they were numbers of human bodies twisted-together with automata didn’t matter for now; for now, they were just threat factors.

A three-legged abomination with five bladed arms and crossbows in its mouths leapt straight at Zefaris. She withdrew Amaryllis, Pentacle’s weapon spirit, which she had been wielding this whole time. In truth, she had given into...

288 - Terminal Fangs [Sturmblitz]

In the seconds after Victor had set her down on the roof, Zefaris carved several kinetic mirror glyphs into surrounding architecture and set forth a deluge of bullets, both physical and ghostly. The bullets of her phantoms were… Unsettling. Immaterial. They just passed through enemy projectiles, and then struck in such a way that bursts of ghostly-blue erupted out of their victims’ backs… With no wounds left afterward, despite the fact they tumbled down, dead. Even the survivors were le...

122 - Talisman Mistress Yao Fu [Cherno]

Yao gestured casually to what could only be described as a conversation pit; a lowered recess in an alcove, furnished with lavish sofas, rugs, and a wide coffee table.

Krahe denied: “I think I would prefer to stand for now. Let’s… Establish the nature of our business relationship, shall we?”

“An agreeable proposition. We both have our reasons to seek out the other. That you found one of my employees proves either your resourcefulness or your good fortune, both of which a...

121 - Finding the Talisman Mistress [Cherno]

Meticulous, yet stilted writing in the Calbian alphabet read:

You may use this talisman as a compass to find me.

Bring Silberblut if you believe him to be trustworthy.

The moment Krahe finished reading, the glow faded and it fell into her hand. Curious, she funneled some Thauma into it, and found that it came alive once more, glowing faintly and sending her a sense of direction. A mental compass, subtler than the floating pointer she had expected. Moreover,...