I, The Villainess, Will Seduce All The Heroines Instead-Chapter 184: The Trial (41)

The sound of grinding stone grew louder as the trio advanced, the labyrinth reshaping itself with eerie, almost deliberate awareness. Constellations along the walls shimmered and bent, their starlight distorting like ripples across water. Verena clenched her fists, the threads of her Zodiacal Mimicry humming faintly beneath her skin, ready for whatever Trial Three had in store.

They rounded the corner—and the floor vanished.

"OH, YOU’VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME—!"

All three plummeted, the world blurring in a rush of wind and falling starlight. Vivienne shrieked. Isolde, graceful even in freefall, twisted her body to stay upright. Verena’s stomach flipped as the magic in the air warped, catching them like an invisible net before they slammed onto solid ground.

The arena they landed in was massive, a circular expanse carved from what looked like pure night sky. Above them, constellations glittered unnaturally close, as if they had fallen straight into the heavens. Floating platforms drifted through the air, some stable, others cracking ominously at the edges.

A massive, looming gate stood at the opposite end of the arena, sealed tight with glowing Zodiac sigils. At its base, a pedestal shimmered with three indentations.

"Great," Verena muttered. "Puzzle time."

Isolde’s eyes narrowed. "It’s a relic trial."

From the shadows, movement.

Three beasts slithered, crawled, and skulked into view—each more unsettling than the last. A spectral serpent composed entirely of refracted starlight. A hulking beast resembling a lion with an obsidian mane and molten eyes. And the last... a distorted, shifting figure that flickered between animal forms, its outline warping like a broken reflection.

"They each have a relic," Isolde assessed coolly, pointing toward the faintly glowing artifacts gripped in the creatures’ claws, fangs, or coiled tails. "Retrieve them. Slot them in the pedestal. Gate opens. Classic format."

Verena rolled her eyes. "Yeah, classic. And they’re just going to hand them over because we asked nicely?"

"Doubtful," Isolde deadpanned. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓

Vivienne whimpered, clinging tighter to Verena’s arm. "I-I’ll stay here and... cheer?"

Verena opened her mouth to retort, but the serpent lunged first, its fanged maw crackling with astral venom. Reacting instinctively, Verena’s threads of mimicry flared, copying the serpent’s iridescent glow as she sidestepped the strike. Her own conjured whip lashed forward, striking the creature’s flank, though it only hissed in irritation.

Meanwhile, Isolde had already closed the distance with the lion, her Bind Magic spiraling outward in nearly invisible threads. The beast snarled, swiping with claws ablaze, but Isolde danced away, her threads tightening around its limbs with surgical precision.

Vivienne, to her credit, began weaving soft tendrils of Dreamtide magic, casting an illusory haze across the battlefield. The edges of the arena shimmered as false copies of Verena and Isolde flickered into existence, momentarily confusing their enemies.

Verena grinned despite herself. "Okay... maybe the girl’s not completely useless."

The distorted beast snarled, shifting into the shape of a massive wolf before lunging at Vivienne. Verena cursed, sprinting forward just in time to intercept. Her mimicry flared as she copied the beast’s ethereal stride, tackling it mid-leap and sending both of them tumbling across the stone.

"Hands off the emotionally unstable one, thanks," Verena hissed, planting her boot on the creature’s chest as she wrenched its relic free.

The moment the relic left its grip, the beast dissolved into stardust, scattering harmlessly across the arena. One down.

Across the field, Isolde had bound the lion tight, her threads slicing through its defenses until it collapsed in frustration. With calculated precision, she plucked the relic from its maw, tossing Verena an unimpressed glance.

"That leaves snake-boy," Verena muttered, turning toward the spectral serpent still coiled and hissing.

But before they could advance, the floor beneath Vivienne cracked.

"Eep—!"

Verena barely had time to react as Vivienne plunged downward, the broken platform swallowing her whole.

"Vivienne!" Verena shouted, heart seizing in her chest.

No response. Only darkness.

For a split second, the trials, the relics, the labyrinth—all of it—blurred into static. Panic clawed at Verena’s throat, that same bitter, helpless feeling she thought she’d buried long ago resurfacing.

But then Isolde’s voice cut through her spiral, sharp and steady. "Focus. She’s not gone. The labyrinth wants to separate us. That’s its nature."

Verena exhaled shakily, forcing her pulse to settle. Right. The Labyrinth of Ascendance was designed to fracture, confuse, isolate. Panic was exactly what it wanted.

She tightened her grip on the relic, eyes narrowing. "Fine. Then we finish this fast."

With practiced ease, Verena and Isolde coordinated their assault on the spectral serpent. Mimicry and Bind Magic wove together like an intricate dance, threads of borrowed light and astral bindings constricting the creature until it writhed and disintegrated into silver mist.

The final relic clattered to the floor.

Without wasting another breath, Verena snatched it up, sprinting for the pedestal. Isolde followed close behind, the faintest hint of approval in her usually impassive expression.

The relics locked into place. The sigils flared. The massive gate groaned open, revealing a spiraling path downward—toward the next layer of the labyrinth.

But Verena’s gaze lingered on the cracked floor where Vivienne had fallen.

"I’m coming," she muttered under her breath, fists clenched.

Because no matter how ridiculous, clumsy, or infuriating the girl could be—leaving someone behind wasn’t her style.

Verena didn’t hesitate. The moment the massive gate creaked open, revealing the swirling, spiraling descent deeper into the Labyrinth, her eyes stayed fixed on the fractured floor where Vivienne had vanished. Isolde, ever the composed one, had already stepped toward the path forward, but paused when she noticed Verena standing still.

"Verena," Isolde called, voice low with warning. "Don’t be stupid."

Verena didn’t answer right away. Her fingers twitched at her sides, threads of her Zodiacal Mimicry humming faintly beneath her skin as frustration and worry tangled inside her like a knot of coiled wires.

Isolde’s gaze sharpened. "I know what you’re thinking, and no—getting separated is exactly what this labyrinth wants. You can’t chase after every lost duckling."

"She’s not a duckling," Verena muttered. "She’s... Vivienne."

"Exactly my point."

Despite Isolde’s words, the tight clench of unease in Verena’s chest only worsened. Vivienne may have been frustrating, clumsy, and scatterbrained beyond belief—but nobody deserved to be left stranded in this maze alone. Especially not her, not with how easily fear and self-doubt devoured people in this place. The labyrinth wasn’t just a puzzle. It was designed to break you apart from the inside.

Verena exhaled sharply, her jaw tightening. "I’ll be quick."

Without waiting for approval, she darted to the fractured floor, the constellation-lit stone still humming faintly where Vivienne had fallen. Her eyes flicked across the surface, analyzing it for hidden mechanisms. The faint shimmer of astral residue marked a teleportation fault—likely a trap designed to displace participants, a classic labyrinth trick.

Good. That meant Vivienne wasn’t gone-gone. Just misplaced.

Verena’s mimicry threads pulsed as she synced to the residual energy. A moment later, a secondary path flickered into existence—a hidden alcove tucked along the arena’s far edge, nearly invisible under normal sight. Typical labyrinth cruelty. Out of sight, out of mind. But not for Verena.

"I’ll drag her back myself," Verena muttered, already moving.

Isolde sighed heavily behind her. "I’m giving you five minutes before I follow, understand?"

Verena flashed a grin over her shoulder. "You do care."

Isolde didn’t respond, but her unimpressed glare was answer enough.

The alcove’s entrance yawned open like the mouth of some celestial beast, swallowing Verena into its shadowed interior. The walls pulsed faintly with the same shifting constellation patterns as the rest of the labyrinth, but this passage was narrower, claustrophobic. Her footsteps echoed against the polished stone as she pressed forward.

It didn’t take long to find her.

Vivienne was curled up at the far end of the narrow corridor, sitting on the floor with her knees tucked to her chest. The moment Verena appeared, the girl’s eyes lit up, glassy with unshed tears.

"Verena!" Vivienne scrambled upright, tripping over her own feet in the process. "Y-You found me!"

"Obviously." Verena knelt down, grabbing the girl by the wrist to steady her. "You’re hard to miss when you panic loud enough to echo across dimensions."

Vivienne sniffled, attempting a weak smile. "I wasn’t that loud..."

"You were."

A breath of relief slipped from Vivienne’s lips as she clung to Verena’s sleeve like a lost child. It stirred something uncomfortable in Verena’s chest—a dangerous mixture of responsibility and reluctant fondness. The worst cocktail.

"Come on, we’re behind," Verena said, urging her toward the exit. "Isolde’s probably judging us both for wasting time."

They retraced their steps, the labyrinth subtly reshaping around them as they walked, like a living entity displeased with their reunion. But Verena paid it no mind. She kept her grip firm on Vivienne’s wrist, dragging the girl through shifting shadows and under floating fragments of stone, determined not to lose her again.

When they finally reached the arena’s center, Isolde was waiting, arms crossed, foot tapping with pointed impatience.

"Took you long enough," Isolde remarked coolly, though her eyes flicked briefly to Vivienne, scanning for injury.

"She’s fine," Verena assured, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. "We’re all fine. Let’s just finish this before the maze decides to get creative again."

Together, they approached the spiraling descent, their footsteps syncing as they advanced. The path twisted downward, bathed in shifting constellations and cosmic mist, like a staircase leading into the heart of the stars themselves.

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