The sound of flowing sands echoed—
The golden sand poured down like an ocean from the sky, enveloping Dean·Bruce, as well as Madrid·Haru and everyone else on the battlefield.
In an instant, Dean·Bruce felt something strange happening to his body; he no longer felt human. Inside, he was hollow, devoid of any magical energy.
With a sudden focus of his mind, Dean·Bruce was shocked to discover that his physical form had actually transformed into sand.
The battlefield had also changed, resembling a massive chessboard.
Not just Dean·Bruce, but everyone—including the powerful leaders like Madrid·Haru—had turned into sand.
The only difference was that some had bodies of sand that shimmered with white light, while others glowed with black light.
"Oh my god, how did I become sand?"
"By the gods, what kind of magic is this? It's incredible!"
"Oh no, are we going to be stuck as sand forever?"
While Dean·Bruce managed to stay calm, the majority of the young people were like sheltered flowers. They could handle combat, but facing such a bizarre scene immediately sent them into panic and despair.
Madrid·Haru and the others were constantly reprimanding them, which broke Dean·Bruce's train of thought.
Buzz, buzz, buzz—
A peculiar wave rippled again; the massive sculpture became still, but the many sandy figures from the battlefield were teleported in, randomly dispersing among the crowd.
These figures, too, shimmered with both white and black light!
As soon as they landed, the sandy figures began to move, causing the crowd to panic.
However, in the next moment, people were surprised to find that the sandy figures did not attack them; instead, they began to move closer to each other.
"Don't let them get close! Intercept them directly!"
Dean·Bruce instantly felt a sense of familiarity and understood that this was definitely a special setting or mechanism, prompting him to shout out.
Fortunately, at this moment, everyone had a common goal. Upon hearing his warning, they rushed toward the sandy figures, not paying any attention to Dean·Bruce's identity.
Boom—
Bang, bang, bang!
Different sounds followed as people made contact with the sandy figures. Some were immediately flung away, suffering damage to their souls even in their sandy forms.
Others, however, absorbed the sandy figures they touched into their bodies, making themselves larger and even causing armor to appear.
Noticing this, Dean·Bruce's eyes brightened. Could it be that this phase required them to absorb all the sandy figures?
But with touching came two possibilities, and he needed to clarify the rules of absorption versus being thrown back.
With this in mind, Dean·Bruce immediately looked around.
Given that the sandy figures had previously split, their numbers were certainly greater than those of Dean·Bruce's group, making it difficult for people to prevent all the sandy figures from coming into contact.
Buzz!
Soon after, Dean·Bruce saw that many sandy figures were also merging together, becoming even more powerful and manifesting armor.
"Is a new phase starting?"
"Are we supposed to disperse the storm this time? Or destroy the sun in the sky?"
As people whispered among themselves, the supposedly illusory space began to tremble violently, causing everyone to sway and look bewildered.
Crack—crack—
The sharp sounds echoed as countless yellow scorpions seemed to emerge from the light and shadow, quickly charging toward Dean·Bruce and the others. Their speed was astonishing, and their sheer numbers were overwhelming, sending chills down everyone's spines.
In that moment, even Dean·Bruce felt a sense of shock!
He knew they could not afford to lose!
Just moments ago, they had cleared a phase, allowing them to rescue those who had been swallowed.
If they were completely wiped out, they would surely die in this special space!
"Madrid, Elrosa!" Thinking of this, Dean·Bruce shouted, "We're all in this together now; we have to work as a team, or we'll all perish in this place!"
"You guys hold off those scorpion waves, and I'll check out what's going on with that sun!"
With that, Dean·Bruce immediately flew toward the sun in the sky.
He had a premonition that whatever that sun-like entity was, it was far more terrifying than the wave of scorpions!
As for the tornadoes made of sand?
They were still a distance away, so there was no need to worry about them for the moment.
Madrid·Haru didn't hesitate. After returning to his original form, he raised his hand to gather his magic, condensing it into a long spear entirely made of cold energy. It was crystal clear and appeared quite beautiful.
Beneath that beauty, however, lay a terrifying power!
With just one sweeping strike, the frigid air surged forth, freezing hundreds and thousands of scorpions into ice blocks, forming a solid ice wall.
Crack—
However, there were too many scorpions. Before anyone could catch their breath, a crisp sound echoed out.
Cracks appeared on the ice wall, gradually breaking apart.
At the same time, the sun in the sky erupted with brilliance, as if it had split apart, transforming into numerous fireballs that rained down heavily upon Dean·Bruce and the others.
Whether it was the shockwaves from the explosions or the searing heat, they had an immediate and significant impact on Dean·Bruce and his group.
Countless scorpions surged from all directions, surrounding Dean·Bruce and his companions.
In that moment, Dean·Bruce felt as if he had returned to a modern battlefield.
Enemies were everywhere, and bombs could fall from above at any moment!
Looking around, the tornadoes formed from sand were gradually closing in on the battlefield, cutting off any escape routes for the people.
At this point, not only were the young people nervous, but even Madrid·Haru and the others furrowed their brows.
In the midst of the chaos, Dean·Bruce threw Lucy·Michelle into Prolo·Hawthorne's group and directly cast the spell The Compassion of Heaven and Earth to protect them.
Buzz—
However, just as the swirling sand around Dean·Bruce began to coalesce into a protective shield, he abruptly discovered that through the spell The Compassion of Heaven and Earth, numerous grids began to appear throughout the space!