I, The Villainess, Will Seduce All The Heroines Instead
Chapter 155: The Trial (14)

Chapter 155: The Trial (14)

The moment their feet left the glade, the peaceful illusion snapped like a bubble. Warm wind was replaced with cold, dry air; the path ahead spiraled upward into a jagged, spiraling mountain trail carved out of ancient black stone. A staircase—uneven, cruel, and relentless—waited before them like a final gauntlet.

"Okay," Isolde muttered, already stretching her neck. "So we just finished a metaphorical emotional cleansing, and now we’re getting a cardio trial? This labyrinth really wants to be a lifestyle coach."

Vivienne clung to Verena’s arm for dear life. "That looks... vertical. Very vertical."

"I don’t like it," Verena replied grimly, staring up at the endless flight. "But the trial’s not going to finish itself. Let’s keep moving before it starts raining metaphors."

Step by step, the climb began. And the higher they went, the more intense the pressure in the air became. Not magical—emotional. As if the mountain was deliberately trying to weigh down their thoughts. Regrets whispered with every step. Doubts flared up like blisters. It wasn’t a monster guarding the final trial—it was themselves.

"I wonder if we’re really making a difference," Vivienne said softly, halfway up. "If any of this matters..."

Verena didn’t answer immediately. Her legs burned. Her lungs ached. And yet—she kept going.

"It matters," she said. "Even if no one sees it. Even if it’s just for one person. It matters."

Isolde let out a snort. "Verena getting sentimental is scarier than any of the bosses we’ve fought."

"I will personally throw you off this mountain."

By the time they reached the summit, the path opened into a platform of smooth, silvery stone. In the center stood a single figure.

Not a beast. Not a monster. A woman.

Or... was she?

She looked like someone from a painting—flowing robes of starlight, a mask shaped like a crescent moon, and hair that rippled like a galaxy. She radiated no malice. No presence. And yet, the sheer gravity of her silence screamed volumes.

"Final trial," Verena muttered. "Right?"

The figure tilted her head slightly, acknowledging them. Then, she raised her hand.

A circle of sigils blazed around them—each marked with zodiac signs, all twelve surrounding their feet. The mountain trembled.

"She’s drawing from the entire Zodiac Weave," Vivienne breathed. "This isn’t just a test of strength. It’s a test of alignment."

"You mean like, compatibility?" Isolde asked.

"Exactly," Verena said. "This trial... it’s going to tear through who we are, what we stand for—and if we’re aligned with the truth of ourselves."

The moment the final sigil lit up, the battlefield came alive.

Winds howled with Aquarius’s rebellion. Flames surged from the ground with Aries’s fury. Gentle water danced with Pisces’s illusions. Each Zodiac flared in waves, challenging them with their elemental fury. But there were no monsters—only elemental manifestations, pure and raw.

Verena took the lead, dodging a bolt of Sagittarian fire. "Vivienne! This is your moment!"

"R-Right!" Vivienne clasped her hands together and cast a sweeping Dreamtide veil. The battlefield shimmered, distorting the movements of incoming attacks. The illusions didn’t block damage—but they confused the elemental patterns, causing the next wave of fire to miss entirely.

Isolde charged forward through the opening, blades spinning like gleaming constellations. She danced between waves of Capricornian stone and Virgoan precision strikes, countering with sheer instinct.

"Who fights with tax season energy?!" she cried mid-swing, ducking a barrage of painfully well-organized magic missiles.

Vivienne gritted her teeth and cast again, this time weaving a powerful emotional net. It resonated with the elemental chaos—not controlling it, but calming it, like speaking softly to a raging storm.

The battlefield responded. Pisces’s tide softened. Cancer’s energy pulsed gently. Even Scorpio’s fury dulled just a fraction.

Verena seized the chance. She stepped into the center of the zodiac circle and drew her blade—not to strike, but to align.

"This is it," she said. "We’re not here to destroy. We’re here to prove we’re worthy of walking forward. Together."

She raised her sword skyward, and the stars answered.

Light burst from the sigils. The illusions fell still. The figure at the center finally lowered her hand... and bowed.

The trial ended.

The mountain shimmered, the path forward unlocking with a chime of finality.

[FINAL TRIAL COMPLETE.] Epilogue Path: Unlocked. New Affection Bonus Triggered: Isolde + Vivienne.

"...Wait, both of them?" Verena turned. "How is this fair?! I’m not even dating anyone!"

Vivienne shyly held her hand. "You’re emotionally available. That’s practically scandalous in this genre."

Isolde smirked. "Just don’t make us fight over who gets the lap pillow this time."

Verena sighed as they stepped forward, exhausted but victorious. Somehow, the real chaos was just beginning.

As the shimmer of the completed trial faded behind them, the path ahead revealed itself—an obsidian bridge arcing high above the stars, suspended in nothingness. No rails. No walls. Just a thin thread of dark glass over a void too deep to see the bottom of.

"Is this safe?" Vivienne whispered, clinging instinctively to Verena’s sleeve.

"No," Verena replied flatly. "Nothing about this has been safe. I expect betrayal from the bridge itself any minute now."

"Maybe it’ll ask you for emotional vulnerability again," Isolde teased, flipping her braid behind her shoulder as she walked ahead like she wasn’t standing over pure, abyssal death. "You seem to attract trials that want you to grow as a person."

"I attract nonsense," Verena hissed, dragging her feet as they cautiously stepped forward.

But the bridge didn’t break. Instead, each step they took was lit by soft constellations beneath their feet. With every footfall, a new sign appeared—Leo, Taurus, Gemini, and so on—each flickering briefly before vanishing behind them like fireflies.

It wasn’t a battlefield anymore. It was a procession.

"Are we... being judged?" Vivienne murmured.

"No," Verena said, her voice softer now. "We’re being recognized."

They reached the center of the bridge where a circular platform awaited, adorned with twelve thrones made of starlight—one for each zodiac. All empty.

Until now.

One by one, the thrones began to glow. A golden lion’s mane curled around the Leo seat. Scales of crystal shimmered on Libra’s throne. The waves of Pisces danced faintly, rising like a mirage. Ethereal forms shimmered into existence—ancient, faceless silhouettes, glowing with the essence of their signs.

The Zodiacs were watching.

Verena swallowed hard. "So this is the endgame."

A voice echoed—not through sound, but within their thoughts. A harmony of whispers and resonance, as if the stars themselves were speaking.

"You have walked the path. Faced your selves. Lifted others. Endured."

"Yet still one question remains."

All three girls stood still. The thrones pulsed with anticipation.

"Who shall carry the Weave forward?"

"Oh no," Verena muttered. "It’s the ’choose your destiny’ trope."

A sudden wave of light engulfed them, and instantly, they were separated—each one pulled into their own sphere of stars.

Verena’s space looked like a battlefield suspended in time. Swords frozen mid-swing. Shields cracked, unmoving. She was alone. And ahead of her, a reflection of herself—stern, tired, still holding everything together even when everything around her was in pieces.

The reflection spoke. "You lead. But at what cost?"

"I didn’t ask to lead," Verena said quietly.

"But you did anyway," the reflection replied. "Because someone had to."

The stars flared—and then burst apart, revealing Vivienne’s realm.

She floated in a sea of dreams—waves of memories, laughter, grief, kindness. Her reflection drifted ahead: a younger version of herself, more naïve, hands clutched tightly over her heart.

"You feel everything. You carry everyone’s joy. Their pain."

"I can’t help it," Vivienne whispered.

"And that’s why your magic is strong," the reflection said. "Because you care. Even when it hurts."

Then came Isolde’s trial.

She stood on a stage of broken expectations. Banners torn, medals scattered, audiences gone. A lone spotlight lit her from above. Her reflection—poised, perfect, untouchable—frowned back.

"You act like nothing touches you," the reflection said. "But you hate losing. You hate being seen losing."

"Yeah," Isolde said, eyes narrowing. "And I hate being treated like I’m shallow because I enjoy winning."

The reflection tilted her head. "Then stop pretending it’s just for show. You fight because you care too. You always have."

In a final flash, they were pulled back together.

The thrones dimmed. The Zodiacs had seen what they needed to see.

The voice returned—this time louder, more resonant.

"You are flawed. Yet you endure. You fracture. Yet you rise. You are human. And that is enough."

"Affection Alignment: Complete."

A brilliant light surged into Verena’s chest, and she instinctively stumbled back, clutching at her collarbone as warmth spread outward—burning, cleansing, rewriting something deep in her core.

[Evelyn’s Affection Gauge: MAXED OUT!]

"W-Wait, what?! Evelyn?!" Verena blinked furiously. "But she’s not even here right now! What the hell?!"

Vivienne giggled. "You did kind of save her life and go through emotional transformation for her."

"She hugged you and cried into your shoulder," Isolde added helpfully.

"I THOUGHT SHE WAS JUST BEING PITIFUL!"

The path beyond the bridge opened at last—leading not to a door, but to the very heart of the Zodiac Weave: a glowing sphere of cosmic threads, where everything connected.

A notification chimed sweetly.

[Mission Complete: Bring Vivienne to Evelyn’s Team] [Affection Route: Evelyn – Final Unlock Triggered] [New Objective: Talk to Evelyn (Privately)]

Verena groaned. "Oh great. First the mountain of trials. Now I have to survive an awkward one-on-one heart-to-heart with my ex-walking trauma magnet."

The stars twinkled in obvious amusement.

"Shut up," Verena told the sky.

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