The heavy iron gate at the front of Big Father Castle rumbled open.
Amid the swirling dust.
Accompanied by the heart-pounding thunder of iron hooves.
A menacing cavalry force surged forth like a black flood.
The warhorses beneath them were also condensed from shadow.
Their four hooves trampled flames.
Their eyes were hollow, yet they radiated pure killing intent.
There were thousands of them, gathering into a charging formation in an instant.
Enough to shake even the sturdiest legion defense line.
The moment these Mafia Knights appeared, they displayed exceptional tactical discipline.
They immediately split into two forces, tracing two perfect arcs as they sought to bypass the chasm-like Sand Tornado.
They launched the most ruthless massed assault from the flanks against Crocodile, who had remained standing in place, calmly puffing smoke.
Iron hooves rang out as shadows swirled.
From above, they looked like two enormous arrows plunging into a sea of sand.
However.
Just as the two vanguard forces charged into the desert, glittering gold beneath the sunlight.
Before they had even run a hundred meters, a sudden change occurred!
The seemingly solid sand beneath them abruptly collapsed and flowed without warning.
The sand that had supported the shadow warhorses suddenly became a greedy, deadly quicksand trap with unnatural suction.
The hundreds of Mafia Knights charging at the front had no time to react.
They sank into the quicksand along with their silently neighing shadow warhorses.
In just a few seconds, those figures were swallowed by the waves of sand one after another.
They did not even stir a ripple.
And that was only the beginning.
Starting from the area the Mafia Knights had entered.
The entire desert seemed to come alive.
The quicksand spread and expanded outward like a plague.
The knights behind them sensed that something was