Ling Tian and A Li wanted to pass through the altar at the top of the high platform to catch the old witch, preparing to bring her to justice.
However, just as the two of them rushed to the high platform and were about to pass through the altar to catch the old witch, something happened before their eyes that greatly surprised them.
It turned out that in the four directions of the altar, four statues were erected. These statues looked like stone carvings, lifelike.
Each statue was over two meters tall, with a rectangular base below. On the base, a creature was carved with horns on its head, a face like a rat, a body like a bat, arms that were somewhat like human hands and somewhat like claws, and large, folded, bat-like fleshy wings on its back.
In the hands of these monsters were different weapons: a long sword, a scimitar, and a meteor hammer!
At first, neither Ling Tian nor A Li took these things seriously, as they had no life aura or energy fluctuations.
But as A Li and Ling Tian stepped within two meters of the statues, the closest statue suddenly erupted with black light. Then, the statue, which looked like a stone carving, came to life in that instant!
The nearly two-meter-tall monster was entirely black, its surface as smooth as obsidian. The meteor hammer in the monster's hand also transformed from stone to metal. The meteor hammer swung, directly smashing towards Ling Tian's head!
Ling Tian and A Li could not let themselves be hit. They reacted instantly, flashing to the side and dodging the attack from the monster's weapon. However, A Li had now entered the two-meter range of the adjacent statue.
In an instant, this statue also erupted with black light, and the stone carving instantly came to life, its body becoming as smooth and bright as obsidian!
The long sword in the statue's hand directly slashed at A Li. A Li pushed off the ground with her feet, soaring into the air. With a backflip, she dodged the sword. While A Li was still in mid-air, she pulled back the bolt of her shotgun and aimed the Thunderclap M870 at the monster's head, firing a shot.
"Bang!"
At a distance of less than a meter, a large amount of steel shot struck the monster's head, making a loud noise like hitting metal, and sparks flew.
However, after being hit at such close range, the monster merely swayed slightly and was not significantly harmed. Instead, it continued to swing its long sword, pursuing A Li.
Meanwhile, the first monster swung its meteor hammer with great force, as if it weighed nothing. Ling Tian dodged left and right, evading the meteor hammer's attacks. Suddenly, Ling Tian extended his hand, and two fireballs shot out. Two explosive fire talismans hit the monster squarely.
"Boom boom!"
After the smoke cleared, Ling Tian was surprised to find that this monster was completely unharmed by two powerful fire talismans!
"What the hell is this thing?"
In fact, Ling Tian had indeed encountered a ghost. This thing was a gargoyle from medieval European mythology.
Gargoyles were magical creatures from medieval European myths and legends, said to be created by demons.
Gargoyles were primarily created to guard various underground tombs or ancient, eerie castles.
Normally, gargoyles were indistinguishable from ordinary stone statues. However, at night, gargoyles were activated. If an intruder approached their range, they would transform and come to life completely.
The awakened gargoyles would, by instinct, kill all intruders, leaving no survivors!
Gargoyles were extremely powerful creatures, possessing immense strength and incredible speed. Their bodies were as hard as stone!
Furthermore, gargoyles were immune to most spells. Fire, ice, lightning, and even spells like shadow bolt and corrosive touch had no effect on them.
Only a few divine spells could inflict damage on gargoyles.
While physical attacks could harm them, even more bizarrely, gargoyles possessed self-healing abilities. Even if they were cut into pieces, as long as the gargoyle had enough energy, these pieces could quickly reassemble to form a new gargoyle.
Of course, reassembling their bodies would cause the gargoyle to expend energy and reduce its strength.
When a gargoyle was repeatedly attacked and reassembled in a short period, it would deplete all its internal energy and collapse, its sustaining energy exhausted.
Ling Tian was facing such a creature, truly impervious to weapons. Ling Tian's fire talismans failed. Undeterred, he hurled an Yin Thunder Talisman. The talisman struck the gargoyle, and electricity instantly enveloped it. However, the gargoyle acted as if nothing had happened, which was not surprising as stone itself is an insulator.
Helplessly, Ling Tian threw another freezing talisman. But the freezing talisman had no effect on the gargoyle; its movements were not hindered in the slightest!
Almost simultaneously, A Li also fell into a frenzy. She emptied the magazine of her Remington M870. Bullets equipped with explosive runes struck the gargoyle, sending fragments of stone flying. However, these flying stone fragments quickly floated up and reattached themselves to the gargoyle's body.
Furious, A Li retracted her M870 and conjured a ram's horn hammer forged from adamantine. She aimed it at the gargoyle and unleashed a barrage of attacks.
The gargoyle rang like a bell under the blows, with cracks and dents appearing on its body. However, A Li's arms ached from the impact, and the gargoyle quickly healed itself. If these ram's horn hammers had not been specially crafted for A Li by Ling Tian, even the handles would have snapped.
Dozens of meters away, on the other side of the altar, Sorceress Circe stood between two other gargoyles, watching A Li and Ling Tian struggle. She let out a cackling laugh.
As for the origin of these four gargoyles, it was an unexpected bonus for Sorceress Circe. They were also the collection of a certain unfortunate collector.
At that time, the four gargoyle statues had fallen into a temporary slumber due to a lack of sufficient energy supply.
Sorceress Circe used a secret art to reactivate the gargoyles and infused them with magical power. Thus, these four gargoyles became the guardians of the altar.