User blog comment:Xilinoc/Ch. 587 - The Headless Star 6 (for real this time)/@comment-29183117-20140702182347/@comment-5398287-20140702184222

Yup, seems like the explosion was Kubo's way of separating the combatants for individual battles. I don't mind, honestly; that 6-on-8 was going to get REALLY hectic.