Biocores: The Legendary Weapon Designer-Chapter 67: Power of Intent

After stripping the Diamond Stinger of its most valuable parts, Nioh ventured deeper into the expanse. His movements were precise, calculated—each step taken with meticulous care. Using Ekoh’s soundwave manipulation, he nullified every noise he made, blending seamlessly into the vast wilderness. This time, he had only one target in mind: the Giant Silent Spider. He had encountered the beast once before, during his escape with Kyle and the others, and the memory of its presence still lingered in his mind.

But this wasn’t about revenge.

It was about power.

The Silent Spider’s web was a treasure—light, flexible, and stronger than steel. It was the perfect material for what he had in mind. Nioh understood his own strengths. His power didn’t come from brute force but from adaptability. The more harmonic waves he mastered, the more versatile he became, and he needed a weapon that could grow alongside him. Something modular, flexible, and upgradable—an extension of his biocore rather than just another tool. So far, he had gathered most of the core materials, but a high-grade Silent Spider web was non-negotiable.

The challenge, however, was significant. The Giant Silent Spider didn’t roam alone. It lived at the heart of a massive colony, surrounded by thousands of venomous crawlers. Fighting through them directly was out of the question. He needed a plan.

For two days, Nioh scouted the colony from the shadows, analyzing every movement, every pattern. The Silent Spiders had two key weaknesses—sound and fire. One was already his domain. The other? He wouldn’t overthink it.

"Just burn it all."

Not the entire expanse, of course. A wildfire of that scale would be catastrophic, wiping out countless species and throwing the ecosystem into chaos. No, what he needed was something controlled. A cage of flames—one that would isolate the Silent Spider domain and slowly collapse in on them.

The preparation took time. Two weeks of relentless work, cutting down trees, clearing vegetation, carving a dead zone around the colony. Every branch removed was another step toward sealing their fate. By the end of it, the Silent Spider domain stood alone, a secluded pocket of wilderness surrounded by nothing but barren earth.

Then, on a fateful morning, Nioh lit the spark.

From the outside, the fire spread rapidly, devouring the dry remains of the forest and forming a massive ring of flames. The inferno built upon itself, fanned by the wind, climbing higher and higher. It was slow, deliberate—creeping inward, tightening its grip. Hours passed before the first signs of panic emerged. The shrill, chittering screeches of thousands of spiders filled the tundra as they realized their predicament.

The firestorm roared.

The sky darkened. As night deepened and the flames raged, Nioh stretched his muscles, feeling the weight of the battle ahead. In a swift motion, he activated a track on his Rhythm Walker.

"Auditory Hallucination."

The air around him warped, and the atmosphere turned lethal. The Sin of Envy’s pawer slithered into the soundscape, corrupting every harmonic wave in the vicinity. The world trembled with unseen malice.

With a single clap, the reverberation tore open the fire ring, splitting the flames apart like water and granting him passage into the inferno. Heat bore down on him like a physical force, oppressive and all-consuming, yet the space around him twisted and bent—an unseen buffer created by the manipulation of sound. Even then, the act of breathing felt like swallowing molten steel.

Through gritted teeth, he whispered, "Burn."

His voice barely carried past his lips, yet the command rippled outward, a resonance imbued with Envy’s insidious will. The effect was immediate. Every Silent Spider in range, thousands of them, trembled, their instincts overridden by something absolute. As though compelled by the decree of an all-powerful god, they turned and rushed into the fire, their legs scuttling in a frenzied, unwilling march toward oblivion.

Nioh stood unmoving, amplifying the power of his absolute command. The shrieks of the spiders filled the night—piercing, frenzied, unrelenting—yet he heard none of it. Only the sound of his own breath, the rhythm of his pulse, the silence between vibrations.

Then, beneath the crackling of flames, a deeper presence stirred.

A shadow shifted at the heart of the domain.

The fire’s glow flickered against something massive—something untouched by the flames, lurking at the core of the inferno.

Then, it moved.

A monstrous, hulking form emerged from the veil of smoke.

The Silent Spider Queen.

Five meters tall, with a bloated, pulsating abdomen and elongated, needle-like limbs, her body was covered in an eerie, chitinous armor that shimmered like obsidian. Veins of sickly green pulsed beneath her surface, carrying a poison so virulent it could kill on contact. Her eight glowing eyes locked onto Nioh, unblinking, unfeeling, radiating only a singular purpose—eliminate the treat.

For the first time, the overwhelming pressure of an apex predator bore down on him.

Yet, beneath that crushing aura, Nioh felt something else.

A presence—no, an intent.

It wasn’t just strength that made this creature powerful. It wasn’t just its size, its poison, or its hunger.

It was purpose.

"Why is there a difference in strength between Corebinders of the same level?"

The question rang in his mind, echoing, demanding an answer.

And then—clarity.

Intent.

It wasn’t just about power, nor was it about talent or skill. It was the sheer force of will that shaped the strength of a Corebinder. The Queen’s intent was to protect her broad . A relentless, consuming force—to birth, to expand, to survive at any cost. It wasn’t just instinct. It was the essence of her very being.

Nioh clenched his fists.

He had borrowed the intent of Envy, the greed of becoming more, the hunger of wanting from others. But it wasn’t his. It was foreign. A borrowed will could only take him so far.

Against a force of nature like this, would it be enough?

The Queen moved.

Her limbs struck like spears, slicing through the air with a soundless swiftness that defied her size. Nioh’s body reacted before his mind caught up, his biocore flaring as he launched himself sideways. Sound distorted reality around him, his form flickering like an afterimage, but even then—he barely avoided the strike.

A second limb shot forward, aimed at his torso. He twisted midair, slamming his palm against the space beside him. A deafening shockwave erupted, a compressed wall of sound that sent him hurtling away just as the leg impaled the ground where he had been standing.

He landed on his feet, skidding backward, hands vibrating as he absorbed the recoil.

"She’s fast..."

His gaze flicked to her abdomen. Even now, it pulsated, swelling. She was preparing to lay more eggs. If she survived this, her spawn would spread beyond this fire, beyond this tundra, like an unstoppable infestation.

His pulse steadied.

His next move had to be decisive. No drawn-out battle. No unnecessary risks.

Destroy her intent.

Sound rippled around him as he activated his most dangerous technique. His arms moved in a slow, deliberate motion, tuning into the harmonic waves surrounding them.He was sound, he wanted to become sound, he envied sound. The air itself vibrated in response, the frequency shifted—compressed.

The Queen sensed it. Her legs tensed, her body lowered, prepared to strike.

But she was too late.

Nioh clapped his hands together.

The space between them collapsed.

A sonic implosion erupted in the air, a formless, invisible force that bypassed her armor entirely and tore into her core. The sound didn’t need to break the shell—it reverberated inside, smashing her organs to pulp.

The Queen spasmed violently, her limbs twitched in unnatural angles. A final, desperate shriek echoed in the burning wasteland—then silence.

Her massive form collapsed, the weight of her body sending a tremor through the ground. Her eyes dimmed, and with her death, the fire-lit battlefield finally fell still.

Nioh exhaled, his pulse still thrumming with the revelation.

Intent.The defining difference between strength and weakness. The force that dictated everything.

And yet...He had borrowed it from the sin of Envy.

What would happen—if he found his own?