Vol 2 Chapter 19 – The Realm of Mastery【Vol 2: The Blazing Labyrinth and the Lonely Witch】 

“…Who the heck are you…?”

Elmina’s tiny voice piped up from behind me.

(No time for chit-chat!)

ROOOAAARRR!

The salamander, totally pissed at my gatecrash, locked its hate boner right on me.

Its massive claws, wrapped in scorching heat, swiped overhead like a fiery wrecking ball.

“—Whoa!”

I ducked on instinct, dodging by a hair.

(Close shave!)

But no breather—the blazing tail whipped sideways like a flaming lasso.

I backstepped out of range while coolly analyzing the mess.

(First priority: Stop her mana meltdown! Otherwise, she’ll wipe herself out before I even tag this boss!)

Uncontrolled mana stormed from her like a magical hurricane.

I kept dodging the salamander’s follow-ups by the skin of my teeth, snagging a split-second to focus.

Target: The kneeling girl behind—Elmina.

【Edit】, activate!

My mind hacked into her mana flow, trying to decode the chaos.

(What the— this mess of a circuit!? Wait, not a bug. She force-jammed her ultimate with chant cancel…! The control system’s fried, and all that mana’s just throwing a tantrum…!)

Info overload—fixing this back to normal? Near impossible.

(Damn, clock’s ticking…!)

Me flashing panic face, right then.

ROOOAAARRR!!

Salamander belched its third breath—biggest heat wave yet. Space warped like a bad acid trip, blasting my way.

(…No choice. Plan B it is!)

I quick-switched 【Edit】 target from Elmina to salamander.

Aimed at the breath’s core attribute def.

(Flip breath from 【Heat】 to 【Cold】…!)

【Attribute Definition: Heat】 → 【Attribute Definition: Cold】

Mental code rewrite.

In a flash, the incoming roast breath flipped scripts.

But—.

ROOOAAARRR!!

“What the—!?”

Instead of chill vibes, I got slammed with an absolute zero blizzard torrent.

Heat to cold.

Walls, floor—everything it touched flash-froze like a cartoon ice ray.

Simple flip didn’t tweak power levels.

(Figures—not as easy as that dumb trap…!)

I clicked my tongue, channeling power into my sword to parry the blizzard breath.

High-pitched Kiiiing! as blade clashed with ice.

Temp swing from oven to freezer hit like whiplash.

My body screamed bloody murder.

But that tiny window I bought with my desperate block—.

Elmina, who should’ve been half-comatose, mustered her last ounce of oomph to redirect the rampaging mana torrent at the salamander.

“—Aaaaaaaaahhh!!”

This wasn’t even “magic” anymore.

Just raw destruction energy blob, no control.

A suicide bomb that could’ve toasted her own HP bar.

BOOOOM!!!

Thunderous hit on the salamander, but the overkill mana couldn’t focus—exploded outward like a noob’s grenade toss.

Dinged the black scales a bit, but nowhere near fatal.

(No good, too much oomph…!)

Panic mode engaged.

Her magic? Way OP.

She couldn’t wrangle that massive output herself.

Blind max-power spam wouldn’t pierce that dragon tank.

Right then.

Master Glen’s words zapped my brain like a plot twist.

‘—A master isn’t someone who always goes full throttle. The true master adjusts power to fit the situation.’

Back in Sera Village sword grinding, when I was all tensed up—his advice.

That line cleared the fog in my noggin.

(…Oh. That’s it…!)

Finally clicked on Elmina’s meltdown deets.

Game Elmina I knew controlled her cheat mana with perfect chants. But pre-me fight, no time for that.

So she chant-canceled her ultimate.

Her talent overflow meant she leaned on chants for control—ditching ’em was self-sabotage.

Not a “bug.” Her “control system” was straight-up missing.

(Then, fix is obvious…!)

I retargeted 【Edit】 to Elmina herself.

This time, not circuits—her core “definition.”

——————————————

【Name】 Elmina

【Ability Definition】 Mana Control: Dependent on external spell via chant

——————————————

(Jackpot…! This is the one!)

No hesitation—rewrite time.

【Ability Definition】 Mana Control: Add auto-control spell on chant cancel (output 75%)

Mental enter smash.

Instantly, Elmina’s body twitched.

Raging mana sucked back in like it was all a prank.

“Wha… what is this…? Suddenly, my body… the mana… feels light…?”

I yelled at her confusion with max volume.

“One more time, Elmina! Your power isn’t about blind blasting! True strength is wrangling that massive mana like a pro! Picture control even on chant cancel—it’ll work!”

I dodged the salamander’s charge by a pixel, locking eyes.

“You got this! —Trust me!”

My words made her hesitate a sec.

But those red eyes lit up with resolve.

She nodded, no chant—but with solid control vibes now—rebuilding her ultimate.

(…Incoming!)

Salamander prepped its final breath for the showdown.

Blizzard torrent vs. controlled sunbeam.

Two mega forces about to clash like epic fireworks.

“—Go for iiiiiit!!”

Elmina’s battle cry.

Unleashed Catastrophe Flare? No scattershot boom this time.

All mana laser-focused, aurora beam blasting toward the salamander.

Same time, salamander’s breath fired.

Insane cold vs. searing light smashed mid-air.

Shockwave quaked the whole labyrinth like an earthquake party.

But standoff? Short-lived.

Elmina’s focused beam pierced the breath easy-peasy, momentum carrying it straight through the dragon’s bulk.

“—GRYAAAAAAAHHH!!!”

Death screech.

Laser shredded the invincible black scales like tissue, precision-toasting the heart.

Soon, salamander’s body pixelated into light particles, poofing out.

Just a massive magic stone left behind.

“Hah… hah… Did we… do it…?”

Mana-drained Elmina plopped down.

Her face: Total disbelief mixed with “heck yeah” vibes.

(…Phew. Pulled it off somehow)

I sighed in relief.

She probably thinks we duo’d it fair and square.

No clue my 【Edit】 meddled with her power core.

(And that’s fine)

(Now she can wield her power in scrappy fights without chants. Sure, less punch than perfect chants, but survival odds skyrocket. Better keep output at 75% for now—safety first)

Hiding my cheat skill, I strolled over to the lone genius witch.