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“Eh-heh-heh-heh-heh-heh.” I ended up being swept along with Surtr’s laughter.
“What’s… what’s so funny?” Kanata asked, wondering why I was acting that way.

It was one of those fixed rules.

“He turned giant. When the boss turns giant, that means you’ve already won, right?”
“Well, I mean it is true that once the enemy becomes huge, the human side almost always wins, but… that’s in anime and stuff… isn’t this reality?”
“It’ll be fine, no problem!”

Surtr’s current body was made of magma. With that said, most attacks would likely be ineffective. Well, physical attacks had been almost completely useless from the beginning anyway.

Also, his true body was probably in the giant’s head. That was because the magma had gathered around Surtr, and the giant started forming from its head.

Then, the whole giant had likely become a danger zone which would melt any legend grade items without strong fire resistance, same as Surtr himself had done.

Furthermore, just as the Black God had told us, his true body would be provided with a constant supply of HP and MP. What to do, what to do?

In that case, it might be faster to seal Surtr than defeat him. Still, this would also be difficult… from how it looks. He is getting stronger. If I wasn’t here, our side would’ve already lost¹… But since I, no, since all of us are here, we should win with ease.

In order to achieve this… although I’d normally prefer them to escape, Mika, Kanata, and Sakura’s cooperation will be indispensable.

Time… I need time. If we take too long… our foe will end up getting too strong, but if I give those things to Mika and the others, they should manage to buy me some time… probably. Although I’m reluctant…

“Hey~, Surtr! Could I talk with my friends for a moment? Using Ragnarök was somewhat mean of you, so that would be nice, you know~!”
“…I guess so? Alright, I‘ll give you three minutes. Use that time to think of a way to defeat ME and exchange your final parting words.”

How kind of him. Samaeyl would never have allowed such a thing.

I turned to Mika and the others.

“You heard him, let’s use that time to talk tactics!”
“Hey, Ayu-nii, can you really defeat him?”
“It’ll be fine! Although I’ll absolutely need your help, I’m sure I’ll defeat him,” I replied in a rather easygoing tone.

Still, I’d much prefer for the three of them to escape first.

“…Since it’s you, Ayumu, I’m sure you have some kind of plan, right?” Mika assumed. “What will you do?”
“Yep, I have. I’ll be the key player, but I’ll need some time first,” I explained, as I took out five bracelets from my magic bag and handed them to Mika. “First, to buy me some time, I’ll need you to go all out and fight with Surtr, Mika. Just, make absolutely sure not to do anything too crazy, alright?”
“Okay…? That’s fine with me, but what do these things do?” Mika asked with a complacent smile.

It looked like Kanata and Sakura didn’t understand either, so I decided to give them an explanation.

“What do you think these things are?” I probed.
“We have no idea; will you tell us already?” Kanata replied impatiently.

Well, he does have a point.

“These bracelets are divine grade items that raise all stats twentyfold! Additionally, they also increase all resistances by a huge amount.”
“All… five of them?”
“Yep. I had 20 of those in my bag, so I’ll give you some, too, not just Mika.”

Divine grade bracelets. Coming up with a name for them was too much of a bother, so I simply called them Divine Bracelets. Just by putting on one of those, your stats were multiplied by 20! I came up with the idea while I was on a job, so I tried crafting them. Until now, I’d never put them on, since there was never an occasion that demanded such excessive power.

I thought it was weird from the start. When I obtained Item Master, the first pair of shoes I made had the effect of “20 times speed increase when moving in a straight line”. So, if that was possible, couldn’t I do that for all stats? Once I realized that, I made the bracelets with a 20 times multiplier.

In the beginning, I planned to put five on each of my arms and do the same for Mika, for a total of 20, but in the current situation, wearing five per person worked better². I made sure everyone, including me, put on five of them.

“So, what will we do? Sure, our stats now surpass that thing, but…”

Sakura’s question brought us to the main topic.

“True enough. First, Mika will keep Surtr busy, alright? Moreover, Kanata, Sakura, could you support her with magic and stuff?”
“S-Sure.”
“During that time, I’ll create a stronger, divine grade version of Gungnir to seal the Black God, and give it to you, Kanata, once I’m done. Then, when you throw that at Surtr’s real body, everything should work out!”
“Can you make something like that, Ayu-nii?”
“I’m positive I can.”
“I also think he can do it.”

Both Mika and I gave lighthearted replies.

I’m sure it’ll work out. After all, our foe has turned giant! Besides, even if the enemy has a higher level, you can defeat them by locking them down with items and skills, that’s how RPGs work, right? Although this is reality…

“Do your best, then,” I told them and then gave Mika a kiss.

Kanata and Sakura looked surprised for a moment, but I decided not to let it bother me.

“Mmh~! I will!” Mika replied, striking a cute triumphant pose, with her face flushed.

She took out her bow and was about to face Surtr, when Sakura stopped her.

“Big Sis, you probably need some buffs, don’t you?”
“Hm? Oh, please do.”

Sakura raised all of Mika’s stats with support magic. The moment she was done, Surtr, who’d been waiting faithfully, raised his booming voice.

“…Time’s up! Come at ME! C’mon, bring it!”
“As he said. Everyone, I’m counting on you!”

We adjourned our strategy meeting.

I then created an unburnable foundation, took out my magic room, and placed it on it. Inside, I hurriedly got to work on the improved Gungnir.

1. I disagree. Mika is almost as strong as him and her skillset is ice-focused since chapter 330, so she might fare better than him.
2. This makes me wonder if multipliers on equipment work additive or multiplicative. My guess would be that each multiplier just works off the base stats, which would make it additive, since otherwise just those five bracelets would cause a 3.2 million multiplier.

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