Gehrman Sparrow walked out of the flames of the explosion, hiding himself under its hot brightness.
His first target tonight was the greatest threat.
This threat, if provoked, could lead to disaster.
It was best to eliminate this threat without causing much damage, for his and everyone's safety. Otherwise, the loss of lives tonight would be enough to erase all the positive influence Dr. Blessed had left on people regarding Mr. Fool, bringing the Apostles back to zero in their endeavors; at worst, it would drop them into the negative.
That's why Gehrman timed his explosion with the activation of Suneater's Quirk.
He hadn't been keeping an eye on Shie Hassaikai members, as Dr. Blessed had already done it for him.
Instead, he had been keeping an eye on the Heroes through Spirit Vision.
Surprisingly, it hadn't been Suneater who had moved first. It had been Lemillion and Nejire Chan, the former disappearing into the ground and the latter hiding herself under the veil of night.
The Pros' strategy was clear.
Suneater would be the main distraction and would also act as a tank, taking on all the fire. Lemillion would close in on the Villains and take them down swiftly using his Quirk. Meanwhile, Nejire Chan would act as a backup, ready to use her heavy guns at a moment's notice.
Sadly, Gehrman knew that the strategy was flawed.
If the situation had involved only the Quirk users, then the Big 3 would have understandably ruled it, overwhelming the Villains.
But it didn't.
Not only was there a literal Vessel of an evil God present, but a Monocle — and, from the looks of it, a completely deranged one — had barged into the picture, too.
One wrong move, and the Pros would pay the price… with their lives.
So, yes.
The Shaman needed to be taken out.
Gehrman already had a plan, quite a solid one.
Then, to his utter surprise, he saw the Shaman… panic.
In the Crazy Adventurer's Spirit Vision, he saw a massive globe of Spirit Particles explode not from the masked figure, but from the Totem, the symbols on it wriggling like worms.
Gehrman, guided by his insanely high Spirituality, took half a step back.
There, just inches away from the tip of his foot, the spherical boundary of the… Spiritual Territory… paused.
The effect was instantaneous.
Gehrman saw people's Spirit Bodies leaving the physical bodies out of their control.
Not only that, but he also saw another, more drastic change; a change that happened to everyone and everything.
In his Spirit Vision, inanimate objects didn't glow with Spirit Particles.
However, the moment the Spiritual Territory stopped expanding, everything radiated a golden hue, tiny motes of Spirit Particles dancing here and there.
And, instantly, Gehrman knew what the true purpose of this Territory was.
One only needed to be a genius to figure it out, needing no further supernatural ability.
[If the Shaman began drawing in all this Spirituality…] A voice echoed inside Gehrman. [… then even you won't be able to stop him.]
Thankfully, the caster of this territory had already panicked.
Gehrman aimed his gun toward the Shaman, opening his mouth.
A bang resounded as he fired an Air Bullet, controlling its strength and range. As a Sequence 6, if he used it at its full capacity, then it would disintegrate a low Sequence Beyonder's head. He didn't want that, though.
Gehrman also didn't want the Air Bullet to actually hit the target.
Even then, guessing the nature of the Spiritual Territory, he had purposely aimed the it at the Shaman's heart.
And, sure enough, just as the bullet entered the spherical region, it riled up all the Spirit Particles.
The Shaman, getting a cue from his Spirituality, perhaps, rushed to dodge the attack.
He is fast, Gehrman noticed. Very fast.
A Sequence 9 Beyonder, no matter which Pathway, shouldn't be this fast.
Which meant, at the very least, the Shaman wasn't a Shaman, but a Sequence 8…
[… Reporter.]
It didn't matter.
Gehrman had brought the Reporter right where he had wanted him to be, firing the second bullet — a real one this time.
It was much faster, much stronger, and hit the Beyonder before he could dodge again.
Blood splattered as the bullet went clean through his shoulder, sending his body into shock.
Then, the Reporter fell.
Then, the Spiritual Territory vanished, the Spirit Bodies merging with the physical ones.
Gehrman remained standing in his place, though, Iron Mentor and Trick*Step finally appearing at his location and rushing past and around him, following the plan.
The next target was obviously the Monocle.
That needed more observation, as he did not know what abilities this lunatic possessed.
So, Gehrman watched the ensuing fight closely as Lemillion appeared and knocked out the team leader of the Yakuza members with one punch.
He watched as Suneater took care of the last remaining Yakuza member.
He watched as Lemillion attacked the Monocle before the latter dodged it easily.
And, he watched as the black-skinned, head-covered man said a word, slowing the Pro mid-movement, and making even his skin crawl.
[Language of Foulness… Abyss Pathway?] the Voice said, shocked. [A Sequence 8 Unwinged Angel at least…]
Gehrman continued to watch as the Monocle tortured Lemillion, enjoying it, forcing Nejire Chan to appear and push him away using her Quirk.
By the time the Monocle cast the same Slow curse, but on a massive scale, the Voice had already detailed all that he needed to know about the Abyss Pathway, the evil, deranged nature of the Beyonders of this Pathway, and an Unwinged Angel's abilities.
And… that's all he needed to know.
Lampooning, and dejected, Gehrman confirmed that he wouldn't get to collect the bounty on this head.
The moment he saw the Monocle create two balls of black flames, both aimed at Iron Mentor and Trick*Step, he again disappeared using Flaming Jump.
The ball of poisonous, black flame in the Unwinged Angel's right hand bulged.
Gehrman Sparrow walked out of those flames like a wraith, wielding his gun in his left hand.
Instead of using that gun, though, he made a fist — a fist that was glowing with a golden halo.
Then, just like the Monocle, Gehrman opened his mouth and said a word.
"Death."
And, a strange force merged with Gehrman's body under the effect of the Grade 2 Judge Button, his hand leaving afterimages as he punched…
… his fist landing on the head of the Unwinged Angel with a bloody squelch!