Note: Do read Chapter Fifty-Six before reading this, thank you.

---

In the aftermath of an elemental tempest, the world lay in a state of altered reality, its essence trembling from the sheer force of unleashed powers. Amidst this chaos, Adabas materialized, her figure a paradox of childlike innocence and ancient wisdom, standing between Seris and Yara. Her gaze, piercing the veil of destruction, sighed at the sight of the dimension's scars.

"You claim to embody serenity itself, yet what I see suggests otherwise." Adabas remarked, her voice a melody woven with disappointment, as she surveyed the damage sprawling before her.

Jingliu's patience frayed at the edges, her spirit irked by the accusation. "The blame isn't mine alone; all of you unleashed your powers without restraint. Naturally, I was compelled to react in kind," she retorted, her voice laced with the weight of truth. She had mirrored their actions, a reflection of expectation, her restraint born from a deep-seated fear of her own potential.

Adabas, with a graceful wave of her finger, summoned petals that danced around it, crafting a spectacle of beauty amidst the desolation. "Now, now. Your fear is understandable, yet you should trust in us. You accuse us of unrestrained, but haven't you done the same? Clearly, there are external factors at play." The petals coalesced, forming a tiny globe of pink and red, a mimicry of Earth, complete with seas and lands.

Yara, her eyebrow arched in skepticism, couldn't hold back her thoughts. "You're making no sense. Why not simply say we need to conclude this swiftly? Has the Enigmata's fondness for riddles muddled your thinking?" Her words cut through the tension, a sharp reminder of their dire circumstances.

Seris, a silent observer until now, exhaled a sigh of weariness, her patience thinning like the ice beneath them, tired of their constant bickering.

Adabas, unphased, her eyes alight with the spectrum of rainbows, retorted, "I'm hardly the one tampering with the fundamental nature of living entities and their Order. The 'nonsense' you attribute to me is, indeed, my own, not yours." Her words, cryptic as ever, hinted at a truth only she could see.

The Nighthilt Sovereign, Jingliu, had heard enough. "It seems you all believe we have limitless time to discuss... shall we proceed?" Her words, firm and laden with authority, shifted the air, drawing the focus of Adabas and Yara, who seemed momentarily taken aback.

Seris, revealing her visage by removing her hood, unleashed a transformation that captivated all. The frost that lingered around her dissipated, giving way to black flames that morphed into a scythe of pure fire in her grasp.

Jingliu, observing this, realized it wasn't just a transformation but a revelation—a price for a pact with a Great One, perhaps?

Adabas, seizing the moment of distraction, clapped her hands, her figure beginning to fade. "Ah, dear Jingliu, being distracted now was your folly. I hereby claim dominion over this dimension." Her voice, echoing with a newfound authority, marked the beginning of her dominion.

"Just as you offered Icaria a minute of your time, we're granting you three minutes. Fail to overcome Seris and Yara within that span, and I'll obliterate this dimension, invoking the power of Red and Black," Adabas proclaimed, her figure vanishing in a cascade of red petals, her presence, however, omnipresent.

'Red and Black?' The terms were foreign to Jingliu, yet she knew better than to underestimate the Enigmata's unorthodox nature.

Now, her focus shifted to Seris and Yara, who stood ready, weapons in hand. The doppelganger charged, her scythe swirling with a deadly elegance against the icy remnants of Jingliu's previous battle.

As Jingliu's Moonlit Guardian conjured a barrier, an unexpected phenomenon occurred. The flaming scythe, upon contact, seemed to dissolve the shield, a testament to the boundless power of a Great One.

'This explains Seris' previous restraint.' Jingliu realized the terrifying extent of their powers, a revelation that chilled her to the core.

Seris was far from finished. With a twirl deceptive in its grace, she swung her scythe not to strike but to feint, the blade slicing air in a direction opposite to Jingliu's anticipations. 'A feint!' Jingliu realized, stepping aside in the nick of time, vanishing into invisibility amidst a shimmering trail of moon dust.

Landing upon an unseen trap, Jingliu found herself amidst thousands of miniature magic circles scattered across the ground, each pulsing with latent energy. Contrary to her expectations, these circles drained her energy rather than exploding. Testing her theory, she stepped on another, only to see her power wane further, even as the circles' pulsing intensified.

'It's not explosive, maybe,' Jingliu pondered, reassured by the Dark Moon above, which replenished her energy, rendering the traps' effects moot.

But the true threat was yet to unveil itself. The magic circles, rather than detonating, summoned forth Yara's halberd, each emerging with tips crackling with lightning. Jingliu's agility was put to the test as halberds and lightning, both from the sky and the circles, besieged her.

Reflecting amidst the chaos, Jingliu mused, 'It doesn't feel as if they're fully committed to this battle.' She sensed an underlying hesitation, a restraint perhaps tied to the looming deadline set by Adabas.

Resolved not to let this gambit dictate their fates, Jingliu tapped into her profound connection with destiny. As Fate incarnate, she perceived the very threads of fate, shimmering strands that weaved the future's tapestry. These threads, mirror-like in their beauty, revealed the interconnected paths of all things, leading her gaze to a singular point where the magic's source lay hidden.

Navigating this realm of omnipresence was challenging, her senses dulled by Adabas's dominion over the dimension. Even with her ascended powers, Jingliu realized the mastery of such force was not instantaneous; it required finesse and understanding, both currently thwarted by Adabas's manipulation.

Determined to turn the tide, Jingliu reached out to the strands of fate. Grasping them, she found they behaved like elastic ribbons, resilient yet malleable. Pulling them together, she witnessed the magic circles' collapse, a backlash of energy surging towards Yara. The halberds, poised for assault, recoiled upon their master, a spectacle of unintended consequence.

Yara, prepared for such eventualities, had woven a tapestry of defenses around her, mitigating the impact yet not the shock of betrayal by her own magic. Jingliu watched from above, the moon her silent witness, deducing that Adabas's influence had tempered the potency of their attacks.

In this altered world, the decree of its creator overshadowed the will of its inhabitants, diluting their might to mere shadows of their potential. A cruel twist of fate, dictated by the whims of the Enigmata.

"On your left." Seris' warning came too late for her own advantage, as Jingliu ascended, dodging another deadly arc of the scythe. Responding with crescent moon slashes, she found them effortlessly dismissed by Seris's relentless assault.

Then, as if conjured from the abyss, titanic trees burst forth, their branches dripping with venom, roots ensnared with barbs, and from their wooden hearts emerged serpentine dragons, spewing bolts of lightning.

Yara's sorcery didn't end there. A new circle sprang to life, engulfing the battlefield in a sea of flames that threatened to dissolve even the strongest metals. Jingliu, seeking refuge, leapt onto a branch, manipulating more fate threads to dismantle Yara's fiery dominion.

With every spell Yara conjured, new threads of fate sprang into existence, a testament to her unparalleled magical prowess, a gift from Erudition itself.

"Two minutes left," echoed a voice, uncannily mirroring Adabas's timbre, as the terrain underwent a surreal transformation. The mythical forests vanished, supplanted by an expanse of blue sky crisscrossed by spiraling staircases that ascended into the void. Seris and Yara found solace upon these steps, while Jingliu, unbound by gravity, hovered in the air. Below them, cobblestone platforms materialized, offering a bizarre battlefield suspended in the heavens.

This skyward arena, bathed in endless azure, offered no foothold but the cobblestones underfoot—a sight that might have warranted awe under different circumstances. Yet, for the trio, there was no moment to spare on marvels; the battle's urgency brooked no distractions.

Seris, embodying the tempest, charged forth, conjuring tornadoes of flames aimed at Jingliu. Attempting to counter with frost, Jingliu was met instead with dark, cursed wisps emerging from the inferno, ominously drifting towards her.

Sensing the heightened peril, Jingliu, through her mastery over Fate, dissipated the curses, her blade sweeping the sky clean of their presence.

"Ah, your proficiency with time seems to be improving," Yara observed, a note of surprise in her voice. Jingliu's confusion at this comment revealed an unintended manipulation of time, slowing their reality's pace without her conscious intent.

Embracing this newfound temporal leverage, Jingliu closed the distance to Seris, their weapons clashing in a dance of steel and shadow. The scythe, an instrument of harvest, now aimed to reap her very life. Each of Seris' strikes, whether thrust or slash, came with the deadly grace of a predator, the scythe's curve nearly ensnaring Jingliu.

Reflecting mid-duel, Jingliu realized the odd sensation wasn't her wielding Time, but another twist of the Enigmata's realm, distorting natural laws. 'Their caution stems from Adabas' whimsical nature, reshaping reality's fabric,' she pondered, understanding their restraint.

Resolved to press her advantage, Jingliu intensified her assault, her blade a blur of motion against Seris, who barely masked her discomfort under the barrage. Yet, as Jingliu landed strike after strike, Seris' wounds healed with unnatural speed, enveloped in a verdant aura of restoration, Yara's magic at work.

"30 seconds!" came Adabas' warning as the skies bled into hues of red and black, an oppressive gravity threatening to crush them. Jingliu, undeterred, wielded Fate to nullify this force, a maneuver she chastised herself for not employing sooner.

In an instant, Yara and Seris vanished, leaving Jingliu alone against the collapsing duality of Red and Black. The silence that followed her query about this phenomenon was as foreboding as the event itself.

Jingliu stood resilient, her presence a defiance to the chaos that swirled around her. She summoned her Noble Phantasm, its radiance casting a glow akin to moonlight bestowed upon a chosen warrior. "Perhaps this ordeal was a test to see if I could extricate myself from your labyrinthine designs. Rest assured, I shall prevail," she declared, her voice resolute, tinged with the anticipation of victory.

Closing her eyes, Jingliu summoned the full might of her Noble Phantasm, directing it skyward. In that moment of tranquility, her thoughts wandered to days of yore, to a friend whose companionship was a balm to her spirit. She reminisced about an arrow, a symbol of their bond, once loosed by Baiheng, the foxian known for her jests and joyous demeanor. Her loss in the conflict against the Abundance had left a void, yet in this moment, her memory fueled her resolve.

"Perhaps... this is a tribute to you, Baiheng," Jingliu whispered, the air around her crackling with energy. The Noble Phantasm, a conduit of her will and the Dark Moon's essence, coalesced into a luminous blade of unparalleled power. The surrounding atmosphere fissured, reality itself seeming to splinter under the strain of her attack. The once dominant hues of red and black receded, replaced by the surreal cracks of white and blue that danced across the void, warping the very fabric of existence.

With a silent vow, Jingliu unleashed her attack. The blade of light, a beacon of her determination and sorrow, streaked through the sky, its trajectory leaving behind a comet's tail. As it collided with the focal point of Adabas' machinations, the Red and Black, a cataclysmic explosion ensued, engulfing the illusory realm in blinding white.

The aftermath of her onslaught left a silence, a void where once there had been the oppressive will of Adabas. Jingliu, standing amidst the remnants of her fury, felt a momentary peace. The test, if it had been one, was concluded, her power unequivocal in its declaration.

---

As the void's tumult subsided, Jingliu found herself transported back to the familiar environs of their mystical homestead, the forest of mythical aspects whispering its ancient tales around her. The siblings gathered, their faces a tapestry of emotions—some alight with joy, others shadowed by annoyance.

"So, did I pass?" Jingliu inquired, her smirk cutting through the tense air, eliciting smiles from even the most disgruntled among them.

"Pass, you did. Congratulations, Jingliu," Adabas pronounced, her acknowledgement drawing sighs from some, like the release of a held breath.

"Adabas... while your actions were deemed necessary, your penchant for trickery was exceedingly vexing to witness," Pluto chastised, her warrior's spirit barely restrained by Holos's gentle, yet firm, intervention.

Adabas' laughter, light and unbothered, filled the air. "I allotted them three minutes, and as Jingliu's designated adversary, I merely embraced my Path, offering her a glimpse into my capabilities." Her rationale, though meant to soothe, reminded all of their own restrained might during the confrontation.

Amidst this revelation, Yara sighed, her halberd vanishing into the ether. "Combat is not my forte, as our skirmish revealed. My role is supportive, though a foray into offensive magic mightn't go amiss for self-defense."

Jingliu, seizing the moment to commend Yara's prowess, added, "Even so, your magic harbors the potential to devastate worlds, should you choose." A truth universally acknowledged, Yara's seemingly innocuous magic held the power to unravel civilizations.

Yara, intrigued by this perspective, mused, "Really? Perhaps, then, my learning is far from complete." Her words, while unsettling to Jingliu, hinted at a curiosity benign in nature.

Seris interjected, concern weaving through her query. "Setting that aside, Jingliu, how fare you? Your transformation must have altered much."

Jingliu's response, tender and reflective, conveyed her newfound sense of self. "I feel reborn, viewing the world through lenses anew. What I perceive and feel is unexpected, yet not unwelcome—a novel sensation to acclimatize to."

Holos, contributing his wisdom, offered solace. "Such is the path of transformation. Time will harmonize your perceptions with this new reality. Patience is akin to rebirth for us."

His words resonated with Jingliu, evoking a sense of foreboding yet to be understood, her pendant pulsing with an abyssal hue—a sign unnoticed by her companions.

Grateful yet pensive, Jingliu thanked Holos, his advice a beacon in her tumultuous sea of change.

The conversation soon veered as Jingliu's mind circled back to the ripple of disturbance that had shadowed their spar. "What happened to the danger we all sensed? I'm certain you all felt it, didn't you?" Her inquiry hung in the air, prompting a collective hesitation among the siblings.

Their expressions, a mosaic of evasion—Mono scratching her head in discomfort, Adabas resorting to a casual whistle, Pluto's gaze darting side to side, Holos with a palm to his face in resignation, Yara's annoyance palpable, Icaria playing absent-mindedly with flames, and Seris' eyes betraying a flicker of unease.

The silence stretched, laden with unspoken truths, until Icaria, ever the catalyst, shattered it. "About that... oh, one of them is here." Her announcement redirected their attention to the space behind Jingliu, prompting her to turn.

There stood a man, his upper body bare revealing the sculpt of battle-hardened muscles, contrasted with the formal attire of armored pants and metal greaves. Beside him, a woman's elegance was unmistakable, her long hair a cascade of violet and white, her posture that of a noble warrior with a sword sheathed at her side.

"One of them," Icaria had said, yet Jingliu's gaze met two distinct presences. Peering deeper, she discerned a familiar essence weaving through their souls, akin to the siblings'. A realization dawned upon her—these were not mere visitors.

The man's voice, deep and resonant, broke the stillness. "So, this is the Nighthilt Sovereign? Your beauty surpasses legend. I am Boras, the family's blacksmith." His aura, devoid of pretense, radiated sincerity and a warmth akin to the hearth of his forge.

The woman, stepping forward, carried an air of otherworldly grace. "Greetings, Ms. Jingliu. I am Vahn, the Battle God of our kin. Your acquaintance is most welcomed." Her presence, though marked by a regal calm, hinted at a power vast and untamed, beyond the ordinary bounds of this realm.

End of Chapter

---

A/N: Hello, everyone. As promised, I've released the next chapter today, Wednesday. This chapter concludes the siblings and Jingliu's arc, transitioning with an interlude that focuses on the newly introduced siblings who are up to... something.

The upcoming arc will shift our attention towards Y/N. I believe it's a story arc you'll all enjoy. To everyone who has followed this story from the start or joined us along the way, I want to extend a heartfelt thank you for your support! Without further ado, I look forward to seeing you in the next chapter. Have a wonderful day!