I, The Villainess, Will Seduce All The Heroines Instead
Chapter 170: The Trial (27)

Chapter 170: The Trial (27)

[Editing]

The stone archway cracked open like an eye blinking awake, revealing a dim passage pulsing with ambient blue light. Trial Three awaited.

As Verena, Isolde, and Vivienne stepped through, a surge of air swept over them—cold, dry, and laced with the scent of burnt starlight and petrichor. The corridor was longer than the previous ones, flanked with mirrored walls that distorted their reflections. Vivienne clutched Verena’s sleeve tighter, while Isolde walked ahead like she owned the place.

"So... what’s the theme for this one?" Verena asked, cautiously.

Isolde stopped at the threshold of the next chamber. "Air, most likely."

Verena blinked. "Isn’t that the logic trial?"

The answer came not from Isolde, but from the sudden disembodied voice that rang across the chamber:

"Trial of Air: The Labyrinth of Mind. Only those who think without being consumed, who see beyond what is shown, may pass. You are now inside the Spiral Reflection."

As the voice faded, the room stretched itself—literally. The walls warped outward like elastic, transforming the space into a massive dome of concentric platforms and floating paths, suspended in midair by constellations. Runes rotated in the sky above like gears.

And in the center of it all hovered a massive illusion of a brain—pulsing, organic, and clearly magical. Below it was a series of shifting floor tiles with zodiac symbols on them.

Verena groaned. "Oh no. It’s a giant magical Sudoku."

Isolde smirked without humor. "It’s a test of deductive reasoning. The paths will collapse if you step on the wrong tile. The solution is tied to your natal affinity and the current zodiacal Ascendancy cycle."

Vivienne tilted her head. "So... I just guess until I die?"

"No," Isolde said, then gestured to the edges. "We’ll have to solve our respective puzzles individually. The spiral adjusts for each participant. The only help we can offer... is encouragement."

"That’s a sick way of saying ’good luck and try not to die,’" Verena muttered.

She stepped onto her own glowing platform. A projection of her natal chart bloomed in front of her, constellations spinning like gears in a clock. One wrong step and she’d be falling into the void.

"Saphira," Verena whispered.

The snake familiar slithered out from her sleeve and coiled around her arm. "Ready?"

"Do I look ready?!"

"No. But I’m here, and we’ve done worse."

The tiles lit up: Leo, Capricorn, Cancer, Pisces, Virgo.

The question hung in the air: Which sign holds dominion over the present rotational phase?

She recalled the Ascendancy Chart. Pisces was waning. Virgo was stable. Cancer was rising.

She stepped on Cancer—and the tile shimmered beneath her foot without collapsing. One down.

The next question was harder.

Symbols spun. Glyphs appeared midair. A riddle emerged:

"When fire is caged, it turns to shadow. When shadow is pierced, what remains?"

"Emotion," Vivienne mumbled from her side. "It’s always emotion in these things."

Verena glanced over. "You’re cheating."

"No, I’m dreamtiding," Vivienne replied sweetly. "I’m just channeling what the labyrinth wants emotionally."

"That’s cheating!"

"That’s empathy!"

Regardless, Verena followed her gut. She stepped onto the tile for Scorpio—associated with shadow, transformation, emotion.

Success. Another platform extended.

Isolde was already halfway across, calculating with terrifying efficiency. Meanwhile, Vivienne had taken to humming dreamily, half-floating across her path using soft illusionary steps.

How was she doing that?

"I thought you couldn’t levitate," Verena hissed.

"I can’t," Vivienne chirped. "But I can make the labyrinth believe I can."

The girl gave her a wink before skipping to the next tile. The platform held.

Verena stared.

"She’s weaponized ditziness," she murmured to Saphira.

"I’m... strangely impressed," Saphira replied.

It took nearly an hour of dodging false glyphs, solving time-based logic puzzles, and surviving one illusionary room that tried to gaslight Verena into thinking she’d already failed—but finally, they reached the central platform beneath the massive suspended mind.

The final challenge.

A glowing orb hovered before each of them, presenting an image from their past. For Verena, it was the night she first awoke in this world—cold, confused, covered in blood and memory.

"Your task," the disembodied voice returned, "is to accept or reject what you once were. Only through self-awareness can clarity emerge."

Verena stared.

She hated that girl. The one who stumbled into this world and tried so hard to pretend she was okay.

But she also... pitied her.

Maybe she even loved her. Just a little.

She stepped forward and touched the orb.

"I accept her," she whispered. "Because I’m the one who grew from her."

The orb shattered like glass.

A door opened.

They had cleared Trial Three.

And standing just beyond it, with an enormous, unimpressed sword on her back and Penelope clinging to her arm, was Clarina.

"You’re late," she said.

"Not even five minutes," Verena replied.

Penelope looked traumatized.

"I had to do math," she whimpered.

Clarina just patted her head.

Verena smiled faintly.

Their team was finally together.

And ahead of them?

The final chamber. The end of the semester’s trial.

They weren’t ready.

But they were here.

And that was something.

Certainly! Here’s a 700-word continuation following the previous scene:

---

The stone archway cracked open like an eye blinking awake, revealing a dim passage pulsing with ambient blue light. Trial Three awaited.

"So... what’s the theme for this one?" Verena asked, cautiously.

Isolde stopped at the threshold of the next chamber. "Air, most likely."

Verena blinked. "Isn’t that the logic trial?"

The answer came not from Isolde, but from the sudden disembodied voice that rang across the chamber:

"Trial of Air: The Labyrinth of Mind. Only those who think without being consumed, who see beyond what is shown, may pass. You are now inside the Spiral Reflection."

As the voice faded, the room stretched itself—literally. The walls warped outward like elastic, transforming the space into a massive dome of concentric platforms and floating paths, suspended in midair by constellations. Runes rotated in the sky above like gears.

And in the center of it all hovered a massive illusion of a brain—pulsing, organic, and clearly magical. Below it was a series of shifting floor tiles with zodiac symbols on them.

Verena groaned. "Oh no. It’s a giant magical Sudoku."

Isolde smirked without humor. "It’s a test of deductive reasoning. The paths will collapse if you step on the wrong tile. The solution is tied to your natal affinity and the current zodiacal Ascendancy cycle."

Vivienne tilted her head. "So... I just guess until I die?"

"No," Isolde said, then gestured to the edges. "We’ll have to solve our respective puzzles individually. The spiral adjusts for each participant. The only help we can offer... is encouragement."

"That’s a sick way of saying ’good luck and try not to die,’" Verena muttered.

She stepped onto her own glowing platform. A projection of her natal chart bloomed in front of her, constellations spinning like gears in a clock. One wrong step and she’d be falling into the void.

"Saphira," Verena whispered.

The snake familiar slithered out from her sleeve and coiled around her arm. "Ready?"

"Do I look ready?!"

"No. But I’m here, and we’ve done worse."

The tiles lit up: Leo, Capricorn, Cancer, Pisces, Virgo.

The question hung in the air: Which sign holds dominion over the present rotational phase?

She recalled the Ascendancy Chart. Pisces was waning. Virgo was stable. Cancer was rising.

She stepped on Cancer—and the tile shimmered beneath her foot without collapsing. One down.

The next question was harder.

Symbols spun. Glyphs appeared midair. A riddle emerged:

"When fire is caged, it turns to shadow. When shadow is pierced, what remains?"

"Emotion," Vivienne mumbled from her side. "It’s always emotion in these things."

Verena glanced over. "You’re cheating."

"No, I’m dreamtiding," Vivienne replied sweetly. "I’m just channeling what the labyrinth wants emotionally."

"That’s cheating!"

"That’s empathy!"

Regardless, Verena followed her gut. She stepped onto the tile for Scorpio—associated with shadow, transformation, emotion.

Success. Another platform extended.

Isolde was already halfway across, calculating with terrifying efficiency. Meanwhile, Vivienne had taken to humming dreamily, half-floating across her path using soft illusionary steps.

How was she doing that?

"I thought you couldn’t levitate," Verena hissed.

"I can’t," Vivienne chirped. "But I can make the labyrinth believe I can."

The girl gave her a wink before skipping to the next tile. The platform held.

Verena stared.

"She’s weaponized ditziness," she murmured to Saphira.

"I’m... strangely impressed," Saphira replied.

It took nearly an hour of dodging false glyphs, solving time-based logic puzzles, and surviving one illusionary room that tried to gaslight Verena into thinking she’d already failed—but finally, they reached the central platform beneath the massive suspended mind.

The final challenge.

A glowing orb hovered before each of them, presenting an image from their past. For Verena, it was the night she first awoke in this world—cold, confused, covered in blood and memory.

"Your task," the disembodied voice returned, "is to accept or reject what you once were. Only through self-awareness can clarity emerge."

Verena stared.

She hated that girl. The one who stumbled into this world and tried so hard to pretend she was okay.

But she also... pitied her.

Maybe she even loved her. Just a little.

She stepped forward and touched the orb.

"I accept her," she whispered. "Because I’m the one who grew from her."

The orb shattered like glass.

A door opened.

They had cleared Trial Three.

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