Biocores: The Legendary Weapon Designer-Chapter 58: Silent Spiders

The screams and gunfire continued through the night, distant yet relentless.

By the time their shift rotation came, Brae was the first to stir—not that anyone had truly slept. How could they, with those monstrous creatures lurking just beyond the firelight?

"You can rest now," she said to Nioh.

He didn’t reply, only offering a slight nod. His eyes remained fixed on the horizon, calculating. He was timing the night cycle, searching for patterns.

Brae hesitated before asking, "Are we even going to survive this?"

The spiders hadn’t retreated. Not an inch.

Nioh’s voice was barely above a whisper. "There isn’t enough combustible material to sustain the fire much longer."

Brae swallowed hard. "Then what do we do?"

"Do you have any other weapons?" Nioh asked, still methodically working on the knife in his hands.

She exhaled sharply. "We’re low-level soldiers. I’m the highest rank here, and I only have a B-rank biocore. Most of us come from outer cities. We took this mission because the rewards were... extensive."

Nioh finally glanced at her. "You didn’t kill the mole, did you?"

Brae looked away. "I couldn’t. We just wanted to survive."

Silence stretched between them.

Then, he asked, "What’s in the box?"

She stiffened. Hesitated. Then, reluctantly, she answered. "A Null Stone."

For the first time since their conversation began, Nioh lifted his head and met her gaze directly.

Brae’s voice trembled as she explained, "The mission was to retrieve it from a miner in Daewyth. He was trying to sell it, not realizing its value. Some of us got greedy... thought maybe if we kept it, we wouldn’t have to toil in the military forever. But we got tricked. And now... we’re going to die out here."

Her breath hitched, and tears welled in her eyes.

Nioh’s expression remained unreadable.

"It wouldn’t have mattered," he said. "Whether you succeeded or failed, the outcome would’ve been the same. The moment you took something that valuable, you were marked. If not by the ones who hired you, then by those who wanted it for themselves."

Brae wiped her face, exhaling shakily.

"If we survive this," Nioh continued, his tone colder now, "I’ll offer you a deal. It’s up to you whether you take it."

Then, without another word, he stood.

"Wake them up. The fire is dying. We need to move."

"What’s going on?" Trum jolted awake, his voice thick with exhaustion and fear.

"We’re out of fuel," Nioh stated grimly. "Once the fire dies, we’re done. Our only chance is to run until dawn."

Trum’s face twisted in disbelief. "Have you lost your damn mind?!"

Before he could protest further, a sharp rock struck him across the cheek, cutting off his outburst. He clutched his face, eyes widening as he stared at Nioh, who remained cold and unshaken.

"The rules are simple," Nioh said, his voice edged with finality. "Take a fire torch. I’ll go first and create a diversion. You run. As fast as you can. Pray there’s nothing worse out there."

His eyes flicked to Brae. "You lead. Kyle follows—you know these lands best. Stay in a line. Do not lose each other. I’ll cover the rear."

Brae nodded, swallowing hard.

"Under no circumstances," Nioh continued, "should you stop."

The soldiers exchanged uneasy glances but obeyed. One by one, they activated their biocores, their bodies shifting subtly as partial morphs took effect. Shadows coiled around their limbs, muscles tensed with new strength. They each grabbed a torch, gripping the wooden shafts like lifelines.

Nioh’s eyes darkened. He took a slow breath.

"Now." He ordered

Then, in a blur, he darted forward—straight through the dying fire.

The moment he crossed the threshold, the first silent spider lunged.

Nioh’s pocket knife vibrated with deadly precision, his grip steady as he slashed through the air. The blade met the first towering leg with a sickening crack—the limb exploded in a mist of black ichor, sending the monstrous creature collapsing into the dirt.

Another strike. Another severed limb. The next spider screeched as its leg crumpled beneath its own weight.

Brae and Trum fired into the chaos, their gunfire rattling through the dark. Muzzles flashed like dying stars, illuminating the grotesque figures skittering in the blackness. The torches whipped through the air, their flickering flames keeping the swarm at bay.

But Nioh was something else.

Despite his injury, he moved like a force of nature, weaving through the towering, knife-like legs with an almost supernatural grace. His strikes were merciless, every movement calculated. Blood and venom splattered across the ground as he carved through the mass of writhing limbs.

A path opened.

"Move!" Nioh barked.

The team sprinted into the gap he had carved, hearts pounding as they dodged the lunging legs and the glistening fangs snapping too close for comfort. The forest around them was a nightmare of shifting shadows, their torches casting twisted reflections across the creatures lurking just beyond the light.

Then, as they ran deeper into the night, Nioh spotted the problem.

They wouldn’t last.

The torches, while keeping the spiders away, were also making them visible. The creatures weren’t tracking them by sight—but by sound. Every panicked breath, every footfall on the dirt, every frantic heartbeat was a beacon in the dark.

"Drop the torches," Nioh ordered, his voice razor-sharp.

Brae hesitated. "What?!"

"Now!"

One by one, the soldiers obeyed, tossing their torches into the underbrush. The firelight sputtered, swallowed by the darkness.

Then, Nioh reached deep into his biocore—where his power thrummed like a second heartbeat.

He exhaled.

A wave of silence pulsed outward, an invisible force snuffing out every sound around them. The wind ceased. Their footsteps became ghostly whispers. Even the ragged breaths in their lungs faded into nothingness.

It was as if the world had been erased.

The spiders froze.

They twitched, confused, their massive legs halting mid-step. No sound. No prey.

Slowly, cautiously, the team pressed on, moving through the pitch-black wildlands with nothing but blind faith guiding their steps. The only thing louder than the silence was the pounding of their hearts.

Minutes felt like hours.

The soundless void swallowed every footstep, every panicked breath, shielding them from the horrors that lurked just beyond the reach of their eyes.

But silence was not safety.

Trum’s breath hitched as a monstrous, spindly leg descended from the canopy, its serrated edge gleaming in the faint moonlight. It stopped inches from his face, twitching in the still air, searching for something—for him.

His body locked up. His chest burned with the effort of suppressing the scream clawing its way up his throat. The stink of the creature’s venom clung to the air, thick and putrid. His knees trembled. His bladder gave out. A slow, warm trickle ran down his leg, but he didn’t dare move.

Nioh clenched his fists, maintaining the silence field was like holding back a tidal wave with his bare hands. It was crushing him, draining him, his body screaming for relief. .

Then he felt it.

A breath.

Hot, putrid air ghosted across the back of his neck.

Nioh’s stomach clenched as the realization hit—one of them was right behind him.

His fingers twitched around the hilt of his pocket knife, every instinct demanding that he turn, fight, run, do something. But he couldn’t.

The others were frozen, wide-eyed and pale, trapped in a nightmare with no way to scream.

The spider behind him shifted, its exoskeleton clicking in agitation. It couldn’t hear him, but it could sense something was wrong. It was waiting for confirmation—just one sound, one tremor in the air, one sign that its prey was near.

Nioh’s limbs trembled. His vision blurred at the edges. Just hold on a little longer.

The spider’s breath came again, hotter this time, wet and sickly. Its legs scraped against the ground, restless.

Then, a flicker of light bloomed on the horizon.

Dawn.

A slow, creeping warmth spread through the trees, pushing back the suffocating dark. The spiders twitched, sensing the coming day, their instincts overriding their hunger. One by one, the towering silhouettes withdrew into the receding shadows, vanishing like wraiths before the sun could catch them.

As soon as the last leg disappeared, Nioh let go.

The silence shattered like glass.

Trum choked on a sob. Brae collapsed to her knees, hands shaking. Kyle gagged, pressing a fist to his mouth as if trying to keep from throwing up. Juith let out tears. As they had never been this happy to see the sun light.

Nioh staggered, his body drenched in cold sweat. His vision spun, his head throbbed, but they were alive. That was all that mattered.

For now.