Before she finished speaking, Ellen's slender hand made a grasping motion towards the area where the four people were.
There was no earth-shattering magical brilliance, but Mark and his companions felt the space around them suddenly tighten, as if they were being gripped by an invisible hand. This was followed by a strong sense of weightlessness and a tearing sensation caused by spatial distortion!
Before they could even gasp in surprise, the scene of the barracks before them shattered and stretched like a broken mirror, eventually being replaced by a bizarre, rapidly flowing tunnel of starlight.
The violent turbulence almost made Enzo curse, Anna's face paled slightly, Monica pursed her lips, and Mark forced himself to calm down.
Only Little Mu was nervously flapping her colorful wings on Mark's shoulder, seemingly uncomfortable with this rough teleportation method.
In just one or two breaths, the dizzying sensation vanished abruptly.
As their feet touched solid ground again, the four of them staggered and nearly fell.
The cold air, carrying the unfamiliar scent of grass and trees, rushed towards them. They found themselves in a desolate hilly area far from any pass, one they had never seen before. Sparse stars hung overhead, and in the distance, the outline of a twisted, dark crack stretching to the horizon could be vaguely seen.
"Cough...cough..." Enzo clutched his knees, lava patterns shimmering irritably beneath his skin. "Ms. Ellen, could you be a little gentler next time you ask someone for help? My bones are about to fall apart!"
Ignoring Enzo's complaints, Eileen glanced around to make sure it was safe, then turned to face the still-shaken Mark's team. Her face regained its slightly playful, nonchalant smile, but her eyes were unusually serious:
"Finished complaining? Then listen carefully, what I'm about to say concerns your lives."
Her gaze swept over the four of them, finally settling on Mark: "You've already wade into the murky waters of the Church of Holy Light. Alfonso has dug out Raymond and Harrington's roots, which is a temporary way of cutting off Balger's two claws, but that mad dog and the even more troublesome 'Enlightenment Society' will never let it go."
"The Church of Holy Light is not a monolithic entity. Alfonso's actions against those two not only offended the Enlightenment Society but also offended some high-ranking members of the church."
"The foundation of the Holy Light Church's earthly kingdom is almost complete. Their church is about to become the eye of the storm, and the situation of the entire Holy Dragon Continent will be turned upside down."
She paused, her tone carrying a hint of cold reality: "Without reaching the legendary level, you don't even qualify as cannon fodder in a storm of this magnitude; you'll just be crushed to dust."
Mark's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately grasped the key question: "Leave the Church of Holy Light? Then where do we go?"
"The border of the Demon Realm." Ellen pointed to the distorted horizon in the darkness in the distance. She caught a glimpse of Enzo shaking his head repeatedly. "Don't worry, we're not sending you to your deaths, we're sending you to level up."
"The chaotic energy field, endless monsters, and certain special ruins there make it the perfect pressure chamber and catalyst for breaking through to the legendary rank. I will take you to a relatively safe area to complete your final accumulation and sprint before advancing."
Her words stunned the four of them, and their faces showed disbelief.
The frontier of the demon realm? A legendary sprint?!
Although they had undergone numerous life-or-death trials and their strength had increased by leaps and bounds, the legendary realm...
That was still an unattainable peak for them!
Enzo's eyes widened, Anna's breath hitched, and even the usually shrewd Monica showed a look of astonishment.
Mark was deeply shaken and subconsciously glanced at the little girl on his shoulder.
Breaking through to legendary status? Have they really reached the threshold of legendary status?
However, what shocked them even more was yet to come.
Eileen seemed to see through their thoughts, a meaningful smile curving her lips:
“What? You find it unbelievable? The four of you, especially you, Mark, and this little one,” she pointed to Little M, “the battles you’ve experienced, the power you’ve absorbed, the life-or-death situations you’ve faced, have already pushed you to the edge of that threshold. All you lacked was the final opportunity and the right environment. And me—”
She slightly raised her chin, her tone carrying a sense of self-righteous arrogance: "I will also complete my legendary advancement ceremony there."
These words were like a thunderclap out of nowhere!
Mark, Monica, Anna, and Enzo—four pairs of eyes—stared intently at Ellen, their pupils filled with utter shock and a sense of absurdity!
What?!
This woman, who could chat and laugh with Commander Alfonso, effortlessly "drag" them out of the heavily guarded core camp of the Holy Knights, control mysterious spatial powers, and seemingly have deep connections with the Star Moon Church's higher-ups... she actually... hasn't advanced to Legendary level yet?!
Mark had always thought she was hiding her true level of skill.
The overwhelming amount of information left them speechless for a moment.
It turns out that they were already so close to that legendary realm that looked down upon the entire continent!
Eileen took in their shock, but her heart was in turmoil, far from the calm she appeared on the surface.
What she didn't tell Mark and the others was that the border of the Demon Realm, which was about to become their "training ground," was very likely the eye of the storm, the source of the truly terrifying anomaly that would sweep across the entire Holy Dragon Continent!
Its dangers far exceeded their current imagination.
Just as she had never revealed the whole truth to Alfonso Lin before.
The core secrets of the Star and Crescent Church have been clearly revealed by divine oracles.
In this era of impending chaos, the only person capable of overcoming all difficulties and ultimately successfully building an ideal "earthly kingdom of God" will undoubtedly come from the Church of Holy Light.
Ironically, the oracle also clearly stated that this person did not truly "belong" to the Holy Light!
The Goddess of Stars and Moon issued a divine decree, admonishing the followers to use starlight as a guide to lead this person and make "stars and moon" the fundamental cornerstone of his future divine kingdom!
When the oracle was being interpreted, Elaine and the high-ranking members of the Star-Moon Church almost unanimously agreed that Alfonso Lin, who possessed extraordinary talent, unfathomable strength, and was at the core of the Holy Light's power, was the "chosen one" mentioned in the oracle.
He was so dazzling, so logical.
However, her older sister, Irene, the former saint of the Star and Moon Church and the believer who was once most favored by the Star and Moon Goddess, made a decision that shocked and strongly opposed all the higher-ups.
Despite everything, relying solely on her inexplicable "intuition," she resolutely gave up the honor of being a saint.
He follows a little-known country priest from the Church of the Holy Light, whom he meets on his adventures, to a remote place to raise a seemingly ordinary, even somewhat frail, baby named Mark Stewart.
Eileen still remembers that she secretly visited the child when he was still an infant.
She mobilized all her senses, trying to find even the slightest trace of divine favor or the blessing of the stars and moon in the child, which she believed was the sign of a divinely ordained person.
The result left her extremely disappointed and even confused.
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