I, The Villainess, Will Seduce All The Heroines Instead
Chapter 142: The Trial (1)

Chapter 142: The Trial (1)

"Finally. God, finally..."She knew she should be more anxious. This was the part of the story where things spiraled. The volume’s final stretch. The moment where all hell traditionally broke loose. And yet...

Could you really blame her?

After all the deaths, the regressions, the warped timelines and shattered choices just to make it this far, just to survive, it felt surreal. She’d had a few brief moments of respite, sure. But the universe seemed practically engineered to grind her into dust. Her only real coping mechanism had become dangerously simple:

Endure.Endure until the nightmare stopped. Endure until the credits rolled.

"I’m honestly shocked the system barely nags me anymore..."

Then again, she wasn’t exactly a toddler needing babysitting. There wasn’t much for it to say now, aside from reminding her to survive these damn trials.

She’d gone from fixing Evelyn’s spine to managing the unstable cast of heroines, navigating the whims of self-insert chaos goblins, and eventually... dealing with her own spiraling self. And now, here she stood, on the threshold of the final trial of the first semester.

First.As in, not even close to done.

"Seriously? Only the first semester? What kind of masochistic narrative pacing is this?"

This was a team-based event.

But during the initial phase, every participant had to endure the trials alone, isolated, tested individually before they could reunite with their teammates. She remembered that clearly now.

[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION][Objective Updated: To achieve true victory, ensure the Heroine’s Team emerges triumphant.]

[Your role is not to outshine, but to enable. Protect the narrative thread. Preserve the outcome.]

Great. No pressure or anything.

What was the point of all that training, then?

But deep down, it made sense. Stories rarely favor villains, and when they do, it’s only to give them a beautiful, tragic ending. Just like heroes who die with poetry on their breath.

First, I have to survive this individual trial...

As she stepped forward, the Labyrinth of Ascendance swallowed her whole. Astral energy surged through the the environment anciently. The walls were etched in shifting constellations, each star pulsing in rhythm with her heartbeat.

The path ahead unraveled into a corridor of twisting stone and flickering light.

"What’s happening...?"

"This sssshit is fucking terrifying!" Saphira hissed, slithering out from Verena’s sleeve with a twitch of her tail.

They had spent countless days honing their Zodiacal Mimicry together with the rest of the team. At the very least, Verena now had a reliable offensive technique, something more concrete than just bending fate on a whim.

[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]

[Familiar: Saphira]

[Bond Level: Deeply Synchronized]

[Combat Affinity: Mimicry Synergy]

[Status: Combat-Ready]

[Skill: Zodiacal Mimicry]

[Current Level: Lv. 4]

[EXP: 790 / 1000]

[Trait: Can replicate low to mid-tier Zodiacal Weaves with up to 60% efficiency.]

[Next Upgrade: Unlock Dual-Confluence Mimicry at Lv. 5]

"Let’s not die stupidly," Verena muttered.

"I’d prefer not to die at all," Saphira snapped back, coiling tighter around her arm as the corridor shifted again.

No one actually died during the first trials. At least, not permanently.

Those who failed or were overwhelmed were simply ejected from the Labyrinth and hurled back into the waiting zone through a failsafe spatial manipulation system, one meticulously embedded into the trial structure.

It was a safeguard the Academy had upheld for thousands of years, refined across generations to ensure survival, if not success.

Suddenly, the ground shuddered beneath her boots, rumbling like a pulse from the heart of the stars. From the shadows unfurled a Zodiabeast, its body a writhing amalgam of celestial darkness and glimmering constellations. Eyes like dying suns locked onto her.

It lunged without warning.

She barely managed to twist aside, the beast’s claws grazing her arm in a streak of white-hot agony.

Pain lanced through her nerves, but she didn’t falter.

Gritting her teeth, she lifted her arm, already drawing her mimicry glyphs into form.

"Saphira, now!" she shouted.

From her sleeve, the serpent erupted in a coil of radiant energy. Saphira’s form dissolved into a stream of gleaming starlight, weaving into her skin, bones, breath.

[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION][Fusion Successful.][Fusion State: Active – Duration: 3 minutes]

A jolt of power surged through her veins like a solar flare.

Across from her, the Zodiabeast let out a guttural, otherworldly cry.

[SYSTEM ALERT][Zodiabeast Identified: Sagittarius – "The Riftpiercer"][Classification: Mid-tier Mythic][Behavioral Pattern: High mobility, long-range astral projectiles, unpredictable burst charges][Core Weakness: Lunar-bound Resonance Glyphs]

She narrowed her eyes, rolling her shoulder once. This wasn’t just a test anymore.

A Sagittarius-based beast, huh?

It made sense now, the erratic movements, the sudden bursts of speed, the way it was lighting up like an arrow mid-flight.

These creatures weren’t real in the traditional sense, more like manifested constructs from the Zodiac Weave... but damn, they still hit like reality itself.

The Academy ensured it would be that way.

Pain was part of the lesson. You could bleed. You could break.

But you would never truly die, not here. Not yet.

[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]

[Zodiacal Fusion: Environmental Synchronization Detected]

[You have successfully absorbed ambient astral energy during combat.]

[New Skill Unlocked: Stellar Pulse (Level 4) — A short-range burst of zodiac energy that temporarily disrupts enemy movement and weakens magical constructs.]

[Cooldown: 4 minutes]

She exhaled, feeling the new power settle beneath her skin like a loaded chamber."Oh," she muttered, eyes flickering with light. "That might actually come in handy."

The Sagittarius Zodiabeast snarled, a primal sound that echoed with a hunter’s pride.

Its form shone like a centaur made of stardust and stormlight, bow-shaped horns curling from its head as constellation lines flickered across its muscled body.

Its eyes gleamed with a feral cunning, glowing like twin novas. This wasn’t just a fight.

It was a hunt.

And she was the prey.

With a hiss of energy, the beast launched itself forward in a blur, vanishing and reappearing mid-charge with terrifying speed.

She barely managed to twist to the side as it barreled past, the gust from its gallop slamming into her like a shockwave.

[WARNING]

[Enemy Trait: Sagittarius Ascendant — Swiftstrike Activation]

[The Zodiabeast has entered a heightened state. Speed +30%. Predictive movement active.]

"Shit—!" she gasped, skidding backward.

The moment she blinked, it was already repositioning behind her.

"Stellar Pulse!" she shouted.

A burst of radiant energy exploded from her core, a flash of zodiacal force erupting like a miniature sun.

The beast staggered mid-lunge, limbs faltering as it crashed sideways into the wall with a snarl, constellation lines flickering violently along its ribs.

That gave her the opening she needed.

Her glyphs blazed to life across her arms, vivid lines of light in serpentine motion.

Saphira’s power surged with hers, twin spirits in tandem.

She dashed forward, ducking beneath the beast’s counter-strike and delivering a glowing palm to its chest.

The mimicry glyph lit up on impact, copying the creature’s astral signature for a split second long enough to confuse it.

The Sagittarius Beast recoiled in confusion, its form flickering, its instincts temporarily scrambled.

"Now!" she yelled. "Saphira, weave!"

The spectral snake emerged again, slithering in midair, its body inscribing a glowing circle that erupted into a radiant arrow.

Her hand snapped upward and caught it.

With no bow in sight, she threw the arrow like a spear.

It screamed through the air, crackling with mimicked Sagittarius energy, piercing through the Zodiabeast’s shoulder in a blazing arc of light.

The beast howled, a hollow sound filled with stars and rage. Its body convulsed, and for a moment, it buckled.

But it wasn’t done.

It lifted its massive head, bleeding starlight, and roared, the sound bending the very air around them.

From behind its back, an ethereal bow began to form from astral light.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me," she muttered, eyes widening.

[ALERT]⚠ Zodiabeast Skill: Sagittarius’ Judgement — Astral Shot Charging

Impact in 6... 5...

Thinking fast, she activated her mimicry again, this time not to attack, but to mirror the beast’s next move.

Her glyphs flared as she raised her arm, hand forming a shaky bow of her own, pulling back an arrow formed of flickering mimicry energy.

4...

The two locked eyes.

3...

It was a duel of instincts.

2...

She held her breath.

1—

Both arrows fired.

A flash of white.

A crack of thunder.

Both projectiles collided midair, the shockwave knocking them apart like ragdolls.

She hit the ground hard, vision swimming, ears ringing.

But the beast hit harder.

It lay crumpled in a smoking heap, its starry form glitching in and out, fading like a dying constellation.

And then, finally, it dissipated into mist.

[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]

[Zodiabeast: Sagittarius]

[Zodiacal Mimicry Proficiency: +14]

[Bond Sync with Saphira: +7%]

She coughed, sitting up slowly.

Her arm throbbed. Her lungs burned.

But she was alive.

And stronger.

"Okay," she panted, wiping sweat from her brow with a shaking hand. "One down."

Saphira slithered back into her sleeve, glowing faintly.

"This trial is insane," the snake muttered.

"Yeah," she agreed, standing with effort. "And it’s only just begun."

"OOF-!"

Did... she just hear someone?