Nightmare Forest

The creatures burst from the fog, their bodies resembling twisted wolves with elongated limbs and glowing red eyes. Their fur was black as the abyss, and their jagged teeth dripped with an eerie, luminescent saliva. Their movements were unnatural—jerky, almost like marionettes controlled by an unseen force.

Leon barely had time to dodge as one of the beasts lunged at him, its claws swiping past his face and gouging deep marks into the tree behind him.

"These things aren't normal!" Naval shouted, slicing through the mist with her enchanted blade. The moment her sword connected with one of the creatures, it let out a distorted screech and dissolved into black smoke—only to reform a few feet away, completely unharmed.

"They regenerate?" Roman muttered. "No, that's not regeneration… That's some kind of illusion."