CHAPTER 8.1: NIGHTMARE

Along the forest canopy, the corpses of animals are like a prediction of something dark. The farmer pulling the cart felt terror on his face, his confused steps approaching the carcass of a large deer. He approached, began to probe and felt a strong fishy smell rising up.

"Oh god! What the hell caused this…." he exclaimed, eyes widening and looking around. Suddenly, a figure as large as a storm rushed out from the darkness. The giant wolf with fur as gray as night attacked the farmer directly and quickly from the front.

"Are not!" he cried out in desperation, struggling to escape the ferocious wolf's sudden attack. All his efforts only made tears of fear spread down his face, he felt the sensation of color growing towards him.

At the decisive moment between life and death, a sharp sword glowed, piercing straight into the wolf's body. The light flashed in the dark night, causing the wolf to run away.

A mysterious group emerged from the darkness, moving smoothly and confidently. One of them, a knight in black armor with a large aura stood forward, raising a sharp sword in front of the wolf.

The farmer lay motionless on the ground, feeling blood flow from the wound in his chest. He gasped, pain spreading throughout his body. Silent pleas flowed from his mouth, but the black-armored knight just stood there, looking at him without a word.

"Please… please save me," he said hoarsely, his hand shooting out to grasp the knight's hand. But the knight remained silent, his eyes cold and expressionless.

"You... who are you?" asked the farmer, trying to see the face of the person standing before him.

"I am the wolf hunter," the knight's voice rang out, cold as the sound of a ceremony. "And that wolf... is no ordinary wolf."

The farmer looked into the cold eyes of the knight, feeling like his mind was being penetrated. In that look, he saw coldness, intolerance, and something indescribably dark.

"Can...can you help me?" he said, his voice urgent.

The black-armored knight did not answer immediately, but looked far into the deep forest. In that quiet moment, the wolf's hiss cut through.

Disappearing into the darkness of the forest, the knight left the farmer lying haphazardly on the ground. He was breathing heavily in the blur of existence and the vagueness of consciousness.

The severe wounds on his body began to spread, blood oozed from the wounds, mixing with the red soil of the forest. The pain from the deep cuts stabbed straight into his weak body.

"Please... help me," the farmer said in a hoarse voice, trying to pull himself up but couldn't. He looked at the knight's fading shadow, filled with disappointment and helplessness.

The faint light from the foliage was a sign of life and hope, but where he lay was a world of pain and fear.

Gradually, he lost consciousness, his body suspended between dream and reality. Finally, his last breaths faded, and he fell into his final sleep, filled with animal corpses like this nightmare.

Beside him, the jungle continues to keep its secrets and unsolved mysteries. The sunlight brightened gently, but not enough to warm the cold heart of the farmer, who died in loneliness and a feeling of abandonment.