Rare animals…After Luffy"s answer with a confident face, Nami gave a sigh of relief thinking the dangers are over, Zoro felt a little complicated as he also wanted to fight the Sphinx and compare his power but in this group, only Reo is looking at the dust with a serious face because he didn"t agree with Luffy that the Sphinx will die so easily and decided to use observation Haki to find the situation inside the dust cloud.
The moment the thought of using his Observation Haki a loud sound of thunder cry came in their ears from the sky which surprised everyone even Reo because of the sudden thunder cry without clouds.
"Look at the sky. " Nami shouted with fear pointing at the sky.
"Why is there lighting all over the sky without any clouds? " Zoro asked with a confused face looking at the sky.
"The lightings are coming from that dust clouds look. " Luffy said with a confused face looking at the dust clouds which formed from the exploration when he punched the Sphinx.
"It"s the Sphinx. " Reo finally using his Observation Haki said with a serious face finding how the Sphinx sending lighting towards the sky.
"It is still alive even after that huge exploration. " Nami asked with a shocked face looking at the dust clouds.
"It"s too strong. " Zoro said with a serious face while holding his sword tightly as he started doubting if he will be able to win or fight against the Sphinx on equal footing.
"It is really tough but I still have energy left to fight it. " Luffy said with a serious face preparing to fight once more when a huge shock wave and air current exploded from the center of the dust Cloud which easily cleared the dust cloud reviling the Sphinx.
"Why is it shaking? " Luffy who is about to attack asked with a confused face.
"There is something wrong. " Reo said with a serious face not taking off his eyes from the Sphinx.
"The ground. " Nami started shaking with feat while shouting and pointing at the ground under the Sphinx"s foot.
"What about the ground? " Zoro asked with a confused and annoyed tone hearing Nami"s shout as he is thinking how to defeat the Sphinx here she is worried about the ground there should be a limit to how much one person"s anxiety but when he also looks at the ground he also froze looking at the sight before him.
"How is the ground transforming in the sand? " Luffy asked with fear when he saw the solid ground turning into sand but the next moment his fear transformed into a self-mocking smile as he is ashamed at himself because how can he the future pirate king be afraid of something like this and soon it transformed in that of anger as he charged at the Sphinx without any other thought.
"Luffy stop. " Reo shouted but before he can finish Luffy had already gone under the thunder cloud and the instant he arrived under the cloud a lightning bolt started coming down from the sky with a very first speed and because of his Observation Haki Reo clearly saw the path it took and knows it will hit Luffy with no doubt so instantly controlling his magnetic field he changed the path of the lightning enough to not hit Luffy directly.
*BOOM*
The moment Luffy arrived under the thunder cloud a spark of the thunderbolt strikes the ground right in front of him and sends him flying backward destroying some ground in the process as well as he had already expected this with no time-wasting Reo supported Luffy from behind to make him stable and explaining with a serious face "It is controlling the lightning in the sky. "
"The sands are coming closer to us. " Zoro said pointing at the ground.
"We should move away from the Sphinx as much as possible. " Reo said with a serious face pulling Luffy from behind.
"Everyone look, the ugly lady is growing bigger? " Luffy while running with everyone said taking a look at the enemy with a serious face.
"Ahhh~ we are going to die. " Nami said also looking behind and finding the Sphinx is becoming bigger than an elephant.
"Don"t worry I will not let it hurt you. " Reo said taking Nami in a princess carry as she is slowing everyone with her slow speed while thinking "Should I kill this now to get read of the threat of this weak sea? No, let"s do it is Luffy and everyone fails to defeat it. "
"The trees are also transforming in the sand. " Zoro said as he saw a tree transforming into sand which he pa.s.sed just a moment ago.
"Luffy why did you have to make it so angry? " Nami shouted looking at Luffy with anger.
"Hehehe~ " fixing his hat Luffy said with a smile "I don"t know, maybe because it was fun… "
*Boom*
When they arrived at the sea beach they heard another explosion in the background and turning around they found the whole Island transforming in a desert with no trees or mountain and in the middle of the island the Sphinx who now transformed so big it can be compared to a small mountain.
"What do we do? " Nami asked in a panic while shaking in Reo"s arms when Reo let out a sigh in worry for her as he didn"t know if her little heart will be strong enough to last longer in a situation like this.
"It"s too big. " Zoro said while putting his swords back in their cover.
"Was I wrong? " Luffy asked with a scarred face.
"Do I really need to take action myself? " Reo thought to himself as he looks at the giant Sphinx whose body is made out of the sand with a serious face.
As the 4 of them having "You have made me really angry by crossing the line this time. Usually, I would let the pa.s.sersby leave the island after taking their goods as it is a really long time from the ancient age and I have stopped asking questions but this time I will ask the Riddle once more and if none of you are able to answer the riddle you will have to suffer from the Ancient curse and rest for eternity on this very island. "
"Goods… " hearing the goods Nami"s fear seems to vanish as she thought of something and after a while, she murmured in a low tone "Treasures... "
"What is she talking about? " Zoro asked in confusion.
"What is a Riddle? " Luffy asked in confusion.
"Interesting. " Reo said in amus.e.m.e.nt looking at the Sphinx as his curiosity took over, hearing she is going to ask a riddle.
"Now hear my words properly and answer this Riddle if you want to live. " The Sphinx is with a serious face as the thunder started sparking on the sky the sea became chaotic and the sand on the ground started going up and down while its wings transformed in that of a huge fire wing to show the seriousness and it"s a dominance "The me strangers "What Is The Creature That Walks On Four Legs In The Morning, Two Legs At Noon And Three In The Evening"? Now before you answer think properly because you will only get on chance and the moment you fail beware of the fact that you will lose your little life. One more thing you must remember you only have the time till the Sundown. "