I, The Villainess, Will Seduce All The Heroines Instead-Chapter 177: The Trial (34)

[Editing]

The silver-blue light from the corridor ahead seemed to pulse in time with their steps, casting shifting patterns along the smooth stone floor as Verena and Beatrice walked in tandem. The air was still tense, saturated with that heavy hum of latent magic that never seemed to ease within the Labyrinth. But compared to the suffocating weight of before—the misunderstandings, the distance—it felt manageable now. Fragile, but manageable.

Verena kept her eyes ahead, trying to focus on the path rather than the lingering warmth of Beatrice’s presence beside her. "So," she finally broke the silence, voice light with forced nonchalance, "how many near-death experiences have you had so far? I’ve lost count."

Beatrice exhaled, the faintest smile curling her lips. "Only three. I’ve been holding back."

Verena snorted. "Overachiever."

Despite everything—their messy history, the bitterness, the regret—this felt almost...normal. And that unsettled Verena more than the labyrinth itself.

The corridor opened into a wide, circular chamber. Starlight filtered down from an unseen ceiling, illuminating an intricate mosaic of the Zodiac etched across the marble floor. Twelve symbols radiated outward in a perfect ring, their edges glowing faintly.

Verena slowed, eyes narrowing. "Puzzle room."

Beatrice nodded, already scanning the symbols with careful precision. "Looks like it."

A faint shimmer rippled through the air as a familiar system notification materialized in Verena’s vision:

⟢ TRIAL OF ALIGNMENT: INITIATED ⟣

Align your steps with the truth of your Zodiac, or risk being devoured by the shifting maze.

Failure resets progress. Success unlocks the next gate.

"Great," Verena muttered under her breath. "Astrology homework with consequences."

They approached the ring of symbols cautiously. Each Zodiac crest pulsed faintly, but some flickered—unstable, uncertain. Verena recognized the distortion immediately. "Rotational Influence," she realized aloud. "Some signs are in Diminution... It’s a trick."

"Or a test," Beatrice countered, crouching near the Virgo crest. Her hand hovered above it, her brow furrowed in concentration. "If we step wrong, the maze resets. And we get spat back to the start."

Verena sighed, resisting the urge to rub her temples. "Fantastic. You always did love making things complicated."

Beatrice arched a brow, glancing up. "You mean I enjoy not dying? Yes, terribly inconvenient."

Despite herself, Verena smiled faintly. The banter was easy, familiar—the same rhythm they’d always fallen into, even back when their relationship had been...well, less tangled.

After some quiet deliberation, they mapped out the pattern. Verena would take the Cancer path—aligned with her mimicry magic and current Zodiac influence—while Beatrice took the Virgo route, naturally stable in the labyrinth’s current cycle.

The first few steps were fine. The floor beneath their feet responded with a low hum, threads of light connecting the constellations as they moved. But halfway through, Verena hesitated. Her next step should’ve been towards Aries—but the crest was flickering erratically, unstable.

Beatrice noticed the pause. "Problem?"

"Yeah." Verena pointed. "Rotational Diminution. Aries is off-balance."

Beatrice frowned, recalculating their route. "Then reroute through Pisces. It’s in Ascendancy."

Verena grimaced. "Ugh. Fish energy."

"Do you want to reset?"

"Fine, fine."

Carefully, they adjusted their trajectory, weaving through the labyrinth’s puzzle with cautious precision. Each correct step sent the constellations above rippling with soft light, the maze responding with subtle approval.

By the time they reached the center of the ring, the air was thrumming with astral energy. The floor beneath them shimmered, and a doorway materialized at the far end of the chamber, carved from pale stone and marked with Zodiac glyphs.

Verena exhaled in relief. "Well. We didn’t die. Progress."

Beatrice shot her a small, amused look. "See? We make a good team."

Verena opened her mouth to retort—but hesitated. The words hovered there, unspoken. Because... maybe Beatrice was right.

Maybe they did.

Before she could dwell on it, the mosaic beneath their feet shifted, the symbols rearranging themselves as the next phase of the trial initiated. The door ahead creaked open, revealing yet another winding corridor bathed in starlight and uncertainty.

Beatrice straightened, her expression steady. "Shall we?"

Verena hesitated for only a heartbeat... then smirked. "After you, Virgo."

Together, they stepped forward—through the door, into the unknown.

The Labyrinth was far from over. But for once, Verena wasn’t entirely dreading the path ahead.

The next corridor was narrower, winding like the ribcage of some ancient beast, its walls curved and etched with constellations that pulsed faintly with an inner glow. The hum of magic was heavier here, clinging to the air like static before a storm.

Verena’s eyes scanned every surface as they walked, her hand instinctively brushing the edge of her cloak where Saphira rested, hidden but ever-watchful.

"So... how long before the next cosmic prank tries to kill us?" Verena asked lightly, breaking the tense quiet.

Beatrice chuckled under her breath, eyes sharp as they examined their surroundings. "Given the Labyrinth’s temperament? About ten steps, give or take."

They barely made it five.

The floor beneath them rippled—stone warping like liquid—as a deep growl echoed through the corridor. From the shifting walls emerged a creature that looked like it had been woven from the night sky itself. Its fur shimmered with constellations, stars scattered across sleek muscles, and its eyes burned with an eerie, silvery hunger.

"Zodiabeast," Verena muttered, tightening her grip on her mimicry threads. "Leo?"

Beatrice shook her head. "No... that’s a Lesser Polaris. Starbound predator type."

The beast stalked forward, its low growl reverberating through the air as its claws clicked against the floor like glass tapping marble. It was large—wolf-like in silhouette—but with limbs too long, a neck too serpentine, and eyes that gleamed with predatory intelligence.

"Okay, creepy constellation mutt," Verena whispered. "We’ve dealt with worse."

The moment the beast lunged, Verena reacted. Her mimicry threads sparked to life, weaving in the air to replicate the beast’s astral energy signature. Her own pseudo-constellations flared briefly along her arms, and she sidestepped the strike, casting a mirror image of the beast’s own movement back at it.

The creature snarled, veering off course, and Beatrice didn’t waste the opening. Her affinity magic—a subtle manipulation of gravitational anchors—sent the creature staggering, its footing thrown off by a sudden shift in its center of mass.

"Nice one," Verena grinned, darting in to weave binding threads around its forelimbs. The threads shimmered, infused with faint zodiacal mimicry, but the beast thrashed violently, its claws tearing through them with alarming ease.

"It’s adapting," Beatrice warned.

"Yeah, noticed!"

The beast reared back, its form flickering—parts of it fading like starlight swallowed by a black hole—before it lunged again. This time, Verena was ready. She let Saphira unfurl, the sleek serpent familiar winding from her cloak like liquid shadow, scales glimmering faintly with astral resonance.

Saphira hissed, her eyes glowing. "We fuse, now!"

"No argument here."

The fusion wasn’t flashy—no dramatic light show or anime sparkle. It was seamless, practiced. Verena’s eyes pulsed with reptilian slits for a moment, her aura deepening as their magics intertwined. Her threads snapped back into place, strengthened by Saphira’s refined control and predatory precision.

With renewed speed, Verena darted around the beast, her mimicry weaving now laced with subtle venom—illusions coiling into its senses, distorting depth and direction. The beast faltered, blinking as its own claws seemed to turn against it, shadows twisting in impossible ways.

Beatrice capitalized again, grounding its limbs with sharp gravitational tugs, forcing the creature’s weight down like anchors.

"Pin it!" Verena commanded.

Beatrice obeyed, and Verena’s mimicry threads coiled tighter—this time holding. Saphira’s hiss echoed as their combined magic resonated, and the beast finally collapsed under the constricting pressure.

The Lesser Polaris gave a final, echoing snarl before dissolving into motes of starlight, its body unraveling like smoke caught on the wind.

For a moment, silence.

Verena exhaled, heart pounding but steady. "Teamwork. Who knew."

Beatrice brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, unimpressed. "You owe me after this."

"Yeah, yeah, galactic drinks on me."

They moved on, the corridor gradually widening until it opened into a small chamber where a checkpoint awaited—marked by floating glyphs and another shifting doorway beyond.

The labyrinth wasn’t done with them yet, not even close.

But for now, they were still standing.

And that was enough.

The chamber pulsed softly with astral light, the walls alive with swirling constellations shifting like smoke trapped under glass. Verena took a breath, steadying her nerves. Her muscles ached, her mimicry threads still humming faintly from the fusion with Saphira. Beside her, Beatrice casually dusted off her robe, entirely too calm for someone who just fought a sentient star-beast.

"You look way too unfazed by this," Verena muttered, eyeing the new doorway. Its frame rippled with iridescent glyphs, an ominous invitation to more cosmic suffering.

Beatrice shrugged, smirking. "You get used to near-death experiences after the fifth one."

"That doesn’t sound healthy."

"It’s not."

Saphira’s voice echoed faintly in Verena’s mind, dry as ever. The next room feels worse. You should panic now, save time later.

"Wonderful," Verena grumbled, straightening up.

They approached the doorway, the runes reacting to their presence. A low chime rang out, and their surroundings distorted, the air stretching like elastic. For a fleeting second, Verena’s reflection stared back at her from the curved walls—but the eyes weren’t hers.

The trials weren’t done twisting fate yet.

And Verena had the sinking feeling this was only the beginning.

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