[b][i]Chapter One, Desperation in Lingayen, Part Seven[/i][/b]

[b]Lingayen Beach, Municipality of Lingayen, Lingayen Gulf[/b]

Noel nodded at Nemo's response, saying, "Good; we might need you later on, then. In the meantime, query: Are you here as a volunteer, or as part of another nation's special forces or related group? And if the latter, can you share me any details you know? It might be useful to know who our allies are..."

The boy was already suspecting [i]just what[/i] said allies were. Then he continued, "If you really want to help in the battle, ask for a longer-range weapon, perhaps a sniper rifle, if you know how to use one. But to be honest, I would prefer it if you tell me why you've been sent to fight and how you feel about it."

[I]He's too young, even for an Arms Master. Much too young,[/i] Noel lamented.

He noticed that Lotus Squadron decided not to attack Ren Huo/Huo Ren, which was all for the best as Princess Fukuyo had begun attacking him, her charge kicking up sand from the beach while Lucy was charging up her own weapon for an assault. His next words were to Qingshe, "Get me a visual and sound feed of the fight -"

It was then that Kaitlyn and Team Carrie interrupted them all with even worse news: Apparently, the Chinese had an Arms Master who can control the rocks, soil and sand, and was ready to cause an earthquake/landslide which might bury the battlefield. For a second, Noel was overwhelmed, before forcing himself to say, "Sophist, how far and deep can you manipulate gravity? Can you use it as a sort of sonar to detect buried objects, assuming, of course, that 'Tian Fei' is buried underground?"

The other Arms Master answered quickly, "Nope, but I can just make large areas of earth super-heavy for a time and keep on doing it until I hit something! If Callie's Team can keep me safe, I can probably crush the enemy Arms Master in her own hole!"

Noel blinked before remarking, "So, whack-a-mole. I like it..."

-------

In the meantime, Huo Ren had taken up Princess Fukuyo's challenge and lashed out with a spray of superheated hydrogen from his left hand that would result in serious injury if they hit the Princess, but if they did not, the heat they gave off would empower her Noble Arm. But it was clear from his eyes that he had a plan. 

His next move was to raise his spear, and a sudden flash of light blasted the battlefield, bright enough to temporarily blind even those who closed their eyes and didn't have specialized eye gear or protective powers; would this affect Lucy's 'charged' attack? And were Lotus Squadron away enough to avoid the effects of the bright light? 

Either way, Huo Ren would move to cut at Fukuyo's shins with his spear's head, hoping to capture a precious scion of the Japanese Imperial House; his superiors and his troops wanted to do so for... historical revenge purposes.

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