Reborn as a short-lived loli who can only live for three years

After a good rest, they were ready to go back to the Moon Hall.

Just before arriving, they entered the huge garden courtyard in front of the Moon Hall.

The entire courtyard was illuminated by a layer of false moonlight, and the whole courtyard seemed to be covered with a hazy coat.

When you first enter the garden, the flowers on both sides of the path look like silver metal. They seem to be frozen in the most vibrant moment, and you don’t know how long they have been still at this moment.

The grass growing between the pebbles on the courtyard path is also silvery metallic in texture. When you step on it, you can feel a hard and protruding strange feeling.

Occasionally, the grass was stepped on and broke, making a metallic breaking sound in the night, a sound without any life.

……

But the strange sights did not end there. Soon, strange human-shaped statues began to be seen in front.

They are also silvery metallic, and the carvings are so lifelike that they seem to be alive almost a second ago.

However, their postures were all strange. Some were in fighting stances, some were in the process of casting spells, and the magic rings around their bodies became visible and turned into silver metal before falling to the ground; some seemed to be in the process of escaping and were forcibly frozen in that moment.

The expressions of the statues are equally bizarre. Some are terrified, some are nervous and serious, and some look desperate. There is no aesthetic appeal at all.

On the old map, the exploration predecessors marked a 'cross' at the location of the garden courtyard here.

The exploration team walked with heavy steps and gloomy expressions.

Having checked sufficient information, they naturally knew the origins of these statues.

……

If you want to cross the courtyard, you will inevitably encounter a huge statue monster, which is the palace guard.

When it opens its ominous jewel eyes, any creature it gazes upon will be turned into silver metal.

Therefore, these silver human-shaped statues are all explorers who have failed in their explorations and were left here forever.

Their lives seemed to be frozen in the last second.

"If everyone defeats that palace guard, will they return to their original form?" Ying carefully walked through the humanoid statues again, avoiding touching them directly.

Some of the human-shaped statues have obviously been there for a long time, and the raised metal arms have shown signs of weathering and cracking, as if they would break with the slightest touch.

"It doesn't look like that." Ivy guessed quietly.

She had seen some broken human-shaped statues along the way. Their cross-sections had turned completely into metal. The people inside were not simply trapped by a layer of metal, but all their blood and flesh had turned into metal.

There is no possibility for such a person to survive.

"Even if I survive, it will be very painful."

"Well...how pitiful."

Having said that, there wasn't much sympathy or sadness in Ying Youyou's words. She was just afraid of the monster they were about to encounter, and followed the exploration team's footsteps nervously.

……

Soon, everyone stopped.

Because not far away at the exit of the garden courtyard, a huge statue monster was guarding the palace gate of the Moon Hall, with its eyes closed, as if in a sleeping state.

"Level 4 and below, retreat from the battle and never appear in its sight. Everyone else proceed as planned!" The leader of the combat team quickly gave the order, and the members of the exploration team immediately scattered and made preparations for the battle.

According to the strength estimates in the exploration data, although the Palace Guard is not as good as the conceptual creatures at the level of the Talisman Spirit, its strength should not be underestimated. When a fourth-level magician faces its gaze, the defense barrier cannot even hold out for a second.

"Are you two going to fight too?"

Facing two [Level 5] companions who were ready to join the battle, Shi Zhi Meng did not say anything to stop them, but encouraged them with a serious look: "Just fight with confidence, with the necklace on you, nothing will happen to you!"

"Yes!" Wan Yexi nodded, "You and Chu Yu must also take good care of the two younger generations."

"Don't worry! You don't have to tell me." Shi Zhimeng patted his chest and assured.

"Don't worry." Chu Yu also nodded.

However, Ye Jiyan didn't like this kind of occasion as if she was leaving a will, so she just glanced at them and joined the map group's combat team to set up a huge magic circle on the ground.

Faced with such a large force, Ying was completely unable to express the psychological suggestion of "I am strong", and could only hide beside Ivy and watch the efforts of others.

Soon, the preparations for the battle were ready, and the high-level magic circle was activated. Everyone aimed at the closed eyes of the palace guard, and the moment the magic circle was activated, all attacks were released and hit its eyes.

The sharp moonlight began to devour their magical attacks, and layers of defensive magic arrays appeared before the eyes of the palace guards.

The defenses were broken layer by layer, and the attacks penetrated deeper and deeper, until finally - the few remaining magic attacks penetrated the last layer of defense and successfully hit the palace guard's eyes!

There was a loud 'boom' sound, and the guard's eyes exploded, and small pieces of the statue stone blew everywhere.

Several light blue magical lights flowed through the patterns on the surface of the guard statue, as if performing an activation and awakening ritual.

When the magic power in the lines dimmed and disappeared, the palace guard moved his body, which had been stiff for a long time, and slowly stood up.

Its body was nearly three meters tall, and the lines of armor carved on its body shone with a cold metallic luster under the false moonlight. Magic runes occasionally flowed around it, as if symbolizing abundant energy.

Then, it suddenly opened its eyes——

"Defend, dodge!" The leader of the combat team quickly issued orders.

An invisible wave of magic appeared in the air. Its gaze seemed to be able to penetrate the night sky. Wherever it looked, everything turned into cold metal.

Even the fake moonlight beams slowly fell to the ground like silver fragments.

Ivy and the others hid behind a relief wall. This wall was once covered with green plants and vines, but now these plant walls had turned into silver metal and became the best defense.

The members of the combat team hid behind the humanoid statues, using the defensive barrier as a buffer and successfully blocked the first wave of sight.

The palace guard closed his eyes and fell silent.

Correspondingly, the elf statues on the garden pillars all came to life and launched indiscriminate attacks on anyone within sight.

"Is there anything we can do?" Ying asked again.

The exploration team in the front was fighting hard, but they could only hide in the back and watch silently. This feeling was really uncomfortable.

"Yes." Tokieda thought for a moment, "We can sneak into the Moon Hall in advance while the palace guards are not paying attention."

Ying was stunned again.

"That sounds like a very unreliable proposal," Ivy said mercilessly.

"I agree." Chu Yu nodded.