Eliard stood before Rachel and said with emotion, "Years ago, you were just a troublemaker, and I always treated you like my own daughter. But a child is still a child, and one day they will leave their parents..."

Meledis rolled his eyes in exasperation at the criticism in Iliad's words.

Rachel seemed quite moved by Iliad's words: "I never intended to betray you, but I can't let go of everything in Twilight City..."

Iliad stroked his beard and shook his head, saying, "When you first met me, you were trying your best to persuade me to join the Kingdom of Muxi. But actually, what you cared about wasn't Muxi City at all, was it? It was that high and mighty king. The matter of stealing the notebook was probably instigated by that person... Women, in the end, can't escape the shackles of emotions..."

A look of guilt and pain appeared on Rachel's face.

Others might have been fooled by Rachel's expression, but Todd was definitely not one of them.

Looking at the woman's frightened appearance, Todd knew perfectly well that it was all an act.

Eliard gently stroked Rachel's hair and calmly said, "What you don't know is that those notes you copied were completely useless to that King Muxi. Because, for thousands of years, apart from that patriarch who stumbled into the tower by chance, no one has successfully solved that mystery. No matter how clever a person is, they cannot crack those secrets."

Rachel nodded to Elijah, but glanced at Todd at the door out of the corner of her eye.

The latter quickly and discreetly waved his hand, signaling her not to make a fuss.

“Richie, come with me. We have a long way to go to the Land of Shadows.” Meredith threw out several black raven feathers, breaking the chains binding her hands and feet.

Iliad turned to Meredith: "Then what you promised me..."

Meredith brushed away the falling dust with his hand: "Whether that person is still my father or not, I will not stand idly by and watch the efforts of the Alien Association over the past decades be destroyed. Besides, compared to letting someone like Eleanor continue to act recklessly, building an army in my father's name is not necessarily a worse thing."

Eliard nodded slightly: "I know you don't believe me, but resurrecting the sage Sutherland is the only way for the alien race to continue."

Meredith didn't say anything more, but simply led Rachel and Todd out of the dungeon.

Along the way, Rachel followed behind Todd and whispered, "Why did you come to save me?"

"I'll settle the score with you later about you not coming back after you left." Todd tucked his hands into his sleeves and lowered his head. "Right now, the most important thing is to get out of here."

Meredith walked briskly down the palace corridor, saying as she went, "As long as we can get to flat ground outside, I can take you away from here, but the condition is that we try not to run into that troublesome woman..."

"Isn't this the Grand Commander? What a rare guest!"

A charming yet languid voice rang out on the steps, startling both Meredith and Rachel.

Meredith muttered in frustration, "The person I least want to see has to show up at this time!"

Todd looked in the direction of the voice and saw a woman with a graceful figure and stunning beauty standing on the high platform of the temple, looking at the three of them with a half-smile.

"Grand Commander, it seems like it's been several years since we last met... It's one thing for you to come without saying hello, but why are you trying to leave without saying hello as well?"

Eleanor lifted her foot, seemingly intending to walk down the steps, but the next second, she flashed and instantly appeared in front of the three of them.

Meredith looked at Eleanor's face, frowned, and said, "Have you been neglecting your skincare lately? Why do I feel like you have more and more wrinkles on your face?"

Faced with Meredith's mockery, Eleanor showed no sign of anger. Instead, she smiled and said, "I am different from you. You have been under the protection of the Shadow Queen for thousands of years, so you can stay young forever, while I can only grow old slowly in the ravages of the wind and sand."

When the words "forever young" were mentioned, Eleanor looked at Meredith with the eyes of a hungry wolf and took a small step forward.

Meredith tensed up, clutching two raven feathers in her hands, and whispered to those behind her, "You two go first!"

Eleanor took another step forward, smiling as she said, "That won't do. I've been searching for my little wooden puppet, Rachel, all these days. I've finally found her, how can I let her slip away again?"

Todra grabbed Rachel's sleeve, shielding the latter behind him.

Eleanor looked at Todd, whose figure was concealed by a black robe, paused for a moment, then narrowed her eyes slightly as if recalling something, and finally said slowly, "You feel very familiar to me. I feel like I've seen you somewhere before? In the Abbasid Empire? No, it should be from a time earlier..."

Meredith's hands evolved into two enormous black wings, with dazzling and powerful electric currents flowing back and forth between the feathers, causing intense sparks to flash in the air.

“It’s been so long, and your temper is still the same as before. You’re always so impatient.” Eleanor placed her palms down, and the sand on the ground slowly rose up, gradually condensing into a spherical shield around her body.

Todd also extended his hands from his sleeves, began to activate his power, and prepared to transform into a dragon.

Just then, Iliad emerged from the end of the corridor, stood beside Meredith, and said, "As brothers and sisters born of the same root, aren't you afraid of defiling this sacred land by attacking each other here?!"

Eleanor glanced at Eliard, then at the masked servants following behind him, smiled, lowered her hands, and shook her head, saying, "Everything is just as Elder Eliard said. In the temple of the Elders, nothing should be resorted to force. The aliens should unite, not fight..."

Meredith first exchanged a glance with Eliade, then turned to Todd and said, "Take Rachel and leave here first."

"Then what will you do?"

“I intend to stay here for a while, partly to fulfill my promise to Eliade, and partly to keep an eye on Eleanor.”

Seeing Todd's hesitant expression, Meredith smiled and said, "I've lived for over a thousand years. I can't speak for other things, but I do have the ability to escape. So, don't worry about me, just leave here as soon as possible."

After much deliberation, Todd nodded to Meredith, took Rachel's hand, and quickly left the temple of the elders.

Eleanor watched the two figures disappear into the distance, a faint smile playing on her lips.