I, The Villainess, Will Seduce All The Heroines Instead
Chapter 164: The Trial (20)

Chapter 164: The Trial (20)

[Undergoing editing.]

The Paralyth let out another unearthly shriek, its serpent-like form twisting and distorting the very mist around it. As Isolde’s spear withdrew, the wound quickly mended, threads of starlight knitting the flesh back together like it had barely been touched. Its eyes pulsed again—this time faster, more agitated—as if realizing these three were not as easily broken as the others who came before.

Vivienne, still trembling, struggled to keep Dreamtide stable. The shimmering veil of dreamlike energy wavered as the pressure mounted again. "I-I can’t hold it much longer!" she cried, voice breaking.

"You’re doing great, Vivienne. Just a bit more!" Verena encouraged, despite her own heart hammering inside her chest. The suffocating force was relentless, like unseen hands constantly trying to pull her into paralysis. But she refused to stop.

Isolde darted forward once more, spear slicing through the mist like a lightning bolt. Every movement she made was crisp and calculated, an elegant dance that barely seemed human. "It regenerates too quickly!" she shouted, gritting her teeth as she leapt back to avoid a lash of the beast’s tail. "We need to hit its core!"

Verena’s eyes darted across the beast’s twisting body. That was the problem—it was both everywhere and nowhere, constantly shifting its shape, its signs flickering rapidly along its body. But then she noticed something—small gaps in its movement, almost like hesitation, whenever its Libra sigil appeared along its spine.

’Balance,’ Verena realized. ’It’s built on maintaining balance—and we’re destabilizing it.’

"It’s vulnerable when Libra appears!" Verena shouted. "That’s its anchor point! Disrupt its balance and the entire structure will collapse!"

Isolde’s eyes narrowed in acknowledgment. "Then we strike together."

Verena inhaled sharply, her mind racing. This wasn’t just about brute force. The Paralyth was a manifestation of everything she’d struggled with since the beginning—the fear of being stuck, of losing everything, of watching all her efforts vanish like dust. This creature was her struggle given form.

’Not again. I won’t fall again.’

She reached toward Saphira, her familiar still coiled around her arm, her tiny body trembling but determined. "Let’s push our Zodiacal Mimicry to the limit."

Saphira hissed, voice shaky but fierce. "Let’s do it."

Threads of starlight weaved into her fingertips, the mimicry drawing from multiple signs she’d practiced for so long—Aries for boldness, Virgo for precision, and Leo for raw flare. The strands twisted together into a new weave: unstable, unperfected, but powerful.

"Vivienne, pour everything into stabilizing us! Keep the Paralyth’s field from freezing us in place!" Verena commanded.

"I-I’ll try!" Vivienne’s Dreamtide swirled out in wider waves, shimmering like a sea of liquid moonlight. The oppressive stillness retreated just enough for movement.

As the Libra sigil blinked into view along the beast’s spine again, Isolde didn’t hesitate. Her spear blazed as Verena’s mimicry empowered the strike, and together they lunged.

The spear struck dead center.

A shattering crack echoed through the chamber as the sigil fractured like broken glass. The Paralyth let out a deafening roar that rattled the very walls of the labyrinth.

Suddenly, the entire landscape shifted.

The fog dispersed like torn silk, revealing the full scale of the battlefield—a massive astral dome, star-studded with swirling constellations above. The Paralyth convulsed wildly, its body glitching between forms as it struggled to maintain cohesion without its balancing core.

But even then—it wasn’t defeated.

Instead, its eyes glowed brighter, its form shifting into something even more chaotic. Its regeneration became wild and unstable, fragments of constellations spiraling around its writhing body like broken pieces of a shattered mirror.

Verena’s pulse quickened. "It’s entering a berserk phase!"

Isolde cursed under her breath. "Of course it is. Because why wouldn’t it?!"

The ground shook beneath their feet as the Paralyth slammed its tail down, creating massive fissures. The trio scattered, barely dodging in time. Fragments of fallen crystal rained from above, forcing them to keep moving.

Vivienne screamed, falling onto her knees, overwhelmed. "I-It’s too much... I-I can’t stabilize it anymore!"

Verena rushed over, grabbing her shoulder. "Listen to me, Vivienne! You’ve already done more than enough! You’ve brought us this far!"

Vivienne whimpered, eyes wide. "B-But... I’m useless now..."

"No." Verena’s voice was fierce, almost uncharacteristically warm. "You are not useless. You held back that monster’s influence this entire time. Without you, we wouldn’t have made it this far. Just trust us to handle the rest."

Vivienne’s lip quivered but she nodded, squeezing Verena’s hand. "O-Okay..."

The moment bought Isolde enough time to analyze the Paralyth’s berserk pattern. "Its regeneration is eating itself alive. We just need to keep the pressure up until it implodes!"

Verena grinned, adrenaline coursing through her veins. "Then let’s finish this."

Together, the three advanced once more into the heart of the storm.

The Paralyth screeched, its body writhing into new grotesque shapes—more abstract now, like jagged constellations stitched together by broken threads of light. Its once-fluid form was collapsing under its own imbalance. The mist that had blanketed the entire chamber was thinning, replaced by violent gales of astral wind that howled like wailing spirits.

The countdown was ticking.

"Isolde, cover me!" Verena barked, her fingers already weaving together another unstable thread of mimicry. She had never dared to fuse this many signs before—it was dangerous, volatile, and could very well blow up in her face—but desperate times called for desperate measures.

Isolde nodded without hesitation. "Don’t die."

With that, she threw herself toward the beast again, each leap a blur of precision and controlled aggression. Her spear struck at the fragmented shards of constellations spinning wildly around the Paralyth, shattering them to buy Verena enough time. The creature screamed in defiance, swiping and lashing out with its tentacle-like projections, but Isolde moved like water, impossible to pin down.

Verena inhaled sharply as the mimicry weave grew heavier. She pulled from Aries for strength, Leo for willpower, Virgo for stability, Pisces for adaptability—everything she had been studying these past months. The threads tangled in her hands like living currents.

Even Saphira, still clinging to her wrist, hissed nervously. "Verena, this is highly unstable—"

"I know!" Verena growled. "That’s why it’s going to work!"

The weave ignited like a miniature sun in her palm. It wasn’t just mimicry anymore—it was her own hybridization of everything she had learned, a desperate synthesis of her struggles. It pulsed like her heartbeat, irregular and powerful.

Vivienne, still kneeling nearby, stared with wide eyes filled with awe and fear. "I-I can stabilize it for a second!" she called out, extending her trembling hands. "Just one moment—make it count!"

A shimmer of Dreamtide magic wrapped itself around Verena’s spell, calming the volatile currents enough to hold steady—barely.

"This is it!" Verena shouted.

She charged forward, the spell bursting into a sphere of condensed astral light above her. The Paralyth, sensing the incoming threat, screeched once more, its remaining senses pulling together for a final retaliation. Threads of corrupted constellations shot toward her like spears, but Isolde intercepted as many as she could, her spear becoming a blur of defensive arcs.

One stray thread pierced Verena’s shoulder. She hissed in pain but refused to stop.

"NOW!" Isolde screamed.

Verena unleashed the spell directly into the Paralyth’s unstable core. The impact wasn’t explosive—it was implosive. The beast convulsed, its form warping as if being sucked into itself. Its celestial fragments spiraled inward, folding and folding until finally collapsing into a singular, pulsing sphere of starlight.

A blinding flash filled the chamber, followed by silence.

Then... stillness.

The oppressive weight in the air lifted like a heavy blanket being thrown aside. The labyrinth’s walls shimmered gently, almost in approval, as the mist dissipated entirely, revealing the cracked marble floor beneath their feet.

It was over.

Verena fell to her knees, panting heavily, her hands trembling. Her shoulder throbbed from the injury, but she barely registered the pain. She looked up to see Isolde standing over the dissipated remains of the beast, breathing hard but victorious.

Vivienne ran forward, practically throwing herself into Verena’s arms. "Y-You did it!" she squeaked, tears forming in her eyes. "We’re alive!"

Verena let out a weak, breathless laugh. "Somehow..."

Saphira uncoiled herself from Verena’s arm, her scales dim but intact. "Remind me never to allow that many threads again."

"Duly noted," Verena chuckled.

Isolde approached, folding her arms but allowing a small smile. "I swear, Verena, one day you’re going to actually listen to common sense and not nearly kill yourself in the process."

"Where’s the fun in that?" Verena grinned weakly.

The three of them stood in the now-quiet chamber, the swirling constellation above their heads returning to a gentle rotation. The Paralyth’s shattered remains glittered like faint stardust around them, absorbed back into the Zodiac Weave.

"Is... is this the end of Trial Two?" Vivienne asked cautiously.

Before Verena could answer, the familiar chime of the system echoed through her mind:

[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]

Trial Two: COMPLETE.

Progress: 66%

Remaining Trials: 1

Next Phase: Awaiting Portal Activation.

A glowing gate materialized at the far end of the chamber, its frame carved with shifting constellations. The portal pulsed, inviting them forward.

Verena slowly stood, wincing slightly from her shoulder wound but managing to steady herself. "One more, huh?"

Isolde nodded, her expression returning to serious. "One more. But we’re not alone anymore."

Vivienne clutched Verena’s sleeve tightly, smiling with renewed determination. "We can do this!"

For a moment, standing between two heroines who had once been distant characters in a novel, Verena allowed herself a rare feeling: hope.

’Just a little more. Just endure a little longer. We’re almost there.’

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.