A Guide to Humanity’s Extinction

"Oh my... They've already made their move, and we aren't even there yet."

The moment they landed, the puppeteer Bai blinked, peering through her veil at the situation in the port.

Giovanni narrowed his eyes slightly.

He was unaffected by Lorenzo's ability. From the looks of it, Lorenzo's text-world ability selectively targeted specific people rather than everyone in the vicinity.

Thus, Giovanni could take in the entire situation at the port at a single glance.

Eight figures from Death Crow stood in a corner of the port. The two magical throwing knives that had just pierced Top Hero's shoulder and waist were undoubtedly summoned by Black Magic Hand.

After a moment, the text domain affecting the surrounding crowd vanished. Since it was merely one of the abilities Lorenzo had acquired through Steal, it couldn't last long.

Giovanni lowered his head, working it out in his mind: Lorenzo had deployed this text domain merely to enter a cognitive world he was familiar with, scanning the port for any powerful hidden opponents.

But The Pope was wrong.

The moment the text domain vanished, a sudden tremor echoed from the distant night sky.

Then, an uninvited guest descended from the sky: a figure in a long red-and-black metal coat, wearing a metal mask.

Standing upon the Wind and Fire Wheels with the Fire-Tipped Spear in hand, her combat suit snapped fiercely in the night wind. Her presence was imposing.

"Oho... Is this Red Lotus? What a grand entrance. Pity Rain Crow didn't come." Cosimo stuffed his hands into the pockets of his butler uniform, raising an eyebrow as he looked up at the figure in the night sky.

The Wind and Fire Wheels beneath the girl's feet ground against the air with a sizzling hiss, showering a spray of bright sparks.

Red Lotus held her Fire-Tipped Spear behind her back. Narrowing her red eyes slightly, she stared down at the assembled members of Death Crow.

"I didn't expect so many people to show up tonight. This just makes things more fun."

Captain Red pulled off her eyepatch, revealing a left eye clouded by a white cataract. "Boss, why haven't you handed out our assignments yet? You know how impatient I am. Are you trying to kill me with the suspense?"

Lorenzo leaned casually against the railing. Lowering his deep, dark eyes, he nonchalantly assigned the tasks to the members of Death Crow:

"Cosimo, Bai... you two deal with that mythic vessel. Bandage Man, Guchen, and Sorakagehime, handle those three girls flying in the sky."

He paused for a moment and turned to look at a distant corner of the port.

"Captain, Heimeng, you're responsible for eliminating Team Diamond Man. Leave no survivors."

The young man in the papal robes spoke with a tone as calm as a placid lake, yet the words spilling from his lips were enough to make one's hair stand on end.

"So I have to fight that cute little Nezha?"

Bai spread her hands, her face behind the veil showing a subtle look of disappointment. "What a pity. I wanted to team up with the rookie."

"Saying that will break this butler's heart." Cosimo smiled. He pulled off his white gloves, his werewolf pupils narrowing into high vertical slits.

"A butler should just obediently be a good butler."

Bai returned his smile.

Their banter over, the two vanished from their spots. Moving at top speed, they launched a pincer attack against Red Lotus, who hovered in midair in the distance on her Wind and Fire Wheels.

"Magical girls—now we're talking. This cowboy uncle just loves magical girls," Guchen said. A strange light flashed in his eyes as a ghost horse galloped forward, dragging a carriage behind it.

He mounted the horse. A silver revolver and a pair of handcuffs suddenly materialized in his hands, and he charged head-on toward the three magical girls.

"Brother Vincent, let's butcher these three girls quick. Then we can find a spot to drink and leave the grunt work to everyone else."

Bandage Man scratched his head. As he spoke, he shot a pitch-black bandage upward, hooking onto the eaves of a port building.

In the next instant, Bandage Man's figure vaulted into the air.

He intercepted the magical girl Ember, who was just about to rush over and support Blue Pigeon. Strips of bandages spread outward like a pitch-black curtain, entirely blocking her line of sight.

Sorakagehime, the girl in the black kimono, gripped her scabbard and silently melted into the shadows beneath her feet.

"Boss, why are we stuck fighting the small fry?" Captain Red curled her lip.

"Save the chatter," the hoodie-wearing girl muttered softly, putting away her game console. "Everyone has their own job to do."

"Fine, fine, fine." Despite her complaints, Captain Red followed Lorenzo's orders, strolling slowly alongside Heimeng toward Team Diamond Man in the distance.

Black Magic Hand and Giovanni remained standing in place.

"Boss, should we remain on standby by your side?" Black Magic Hand asked in a low voice.

Lorenzo shook his head. "No. Magic Hand, Giovanni, go kill the remaining three members of Team Blue Pigeon. If possible, try to capture Blue Pigeon alive. I'm very interested in his ability. I don't care about the other two."

Giovanni stayed silent, but his expression grew slightly stern.

"Understood."

Black Magic Hand replied calmly. He suddenly tipped the top hat off his head and summoned a gray magic dove. Within seconds, the bird rapidly expanded, transforming into a giant dove.

Giovanni understood his intent. Carrying Bai Ziling on his back, he stepped onto the back of the giant dove alongside Black Magic Hand.

In a flash, the dove flapped its massive wings, whipping up a fierce night wind as it soared swiftly toward Blue Pigeon in the distance.

At this moment, out of the eleven members of Death Crow, Lorenzo was the only one left standing quietly in place.

Having made a preliminary assessment of their combat strength, he knew exactly how the ensuing battle would play out. Unless a massive variable appeared, he had no intention of joining the fight himself.

He had other plans.

Suddenly, Lorenzo turned the pages of his book, unleashing one of the abilities he had acquired through Steal. A layer of clear radiance scattered from his hand, sinking into the turbulent sea.

Lorenzo turned to look. Two submarines as massive as white whales abruptly surfaced on the ocean.

A cognitive shielding ability. So that's why we didn't realize the submarines had already reached Leijing. With that thought, he pulled a page from the Bible.

Then, the young man dropped down directly above one of the submarines.

The Bible fluttered, granting Lorenzo the effect of an ability—allowing his body to phase through any object for a short time. From his feet up to his waist, and finally his head, his body phased straight through the submarine's hull.

The young man landed inside the submarine.

The white-coated workers lurking inside the submarine drew their handguns, aiming the muzzles right at him. A couple of accompanying espers even manipulated rage and thorny vines, launching attacks his way.

Lorenzo merely breezed past them like a gust of wind.

The thin sheet of paper in his hand fluttered like a deadly paper butterfly, tracing a neat arc across their necks.

A second later, that line of skin split open. Blood sprayed from the gashes in their throats as the workers collapsed to the floor one after another.

Lorenzo raised his grayish-blue eyes, looking toward a massive vault secured within the submarine.

The Bible fluttered again. A strange light flashed in his eyes as he reactivated the phasing ability.

He strolled leisurely through the vault door, stepping inside as the hem of his papal robe brushed over the threshold.

A moment later, he spotted several refrigerated containers. He opened one of them. What met his eyes were the very first Comet Fragments of the Tiamat Comet ever excavated in human history.

The young man raised an eyebrow, a flash of joy passing through his grayish-blue eyes.

Shortly after, Lorenzo used his ability to take away the Comet Fragments from one of the submarines, storing them in an isolated spatial dimension that only he could open.

Afterward, the young man left the submarine and leaped back up to the port.

Lorenzo knew both submarines contained Comet Fragments, but he wasn't in a hurry.

He had already verified the goods. All he had to do now was wait for the members of Death Crow to slaughter the bodyguards, and the fragments would naturally fall right into his hands.

However, the instant he landed back on the port, a sudden anomaly occurred. For some unknown reason, the surrounding air temperature plummeted drastically, dropping well below zero degrees Celsius!

Lorenzo glanced down to see a thin layer of ice suddenly covering the railing.

He instantly went on high alert. The Bible flipped open without any wind, turning to a specific page to release one of his stolen abilities:

—Prism Barrier.

In a flash, Lorenzo's body was enveloped by a prism radiating iridescent light.

The surging wave of cold was blocked on the outside, while the port's telephone poles, streetlamps, and even the entire ground were swallowed up by layer upon layer of frost.

It was as terrifying as if the world had instantly plunged into the Cambrian period.

The young man slowly lifted his eyes. Looking past the brim of his bowler hat, he saw a girl in a black bodysuit riding an ever-expanding sheet of ice, gliding out of the night sky toward him like an ice skater.

Zero had a straight nose, a cold, indifferent temperament, and pale skin. She looked like a Nordic girl whose facial features hadn't fully matured yet—though this was nothing more than an illusion created by Xia Lingxue using a human-face mask.

"The choice is simple: take your people and leave this place... or die," the girl said with a frosty expression. She stared straight into the young man's eyes, her gaze so cold it seemed to freeze over.

Lorenzo fell silent. He understood exactly what tier her strength belonged to in a mere instant. He pondered briefly, head bowed, then said:

"It seems you judged me to be the strongest person here, which is why you sought me out alone, thinking that as long as you take me down, you can threaten the members of Death Crow."

Zero remained silent, not a single trace of emotion showing on her face, which was as cold as ice.

"No matter, that suits me just fine..."

Closing the Bible, Lorenzo showed a rare smile.

The moment his voice fell, a melodious toll of a bell suddenly rang out from behind Lorenzo, making even the sea tremble. Immediately after, centering on him, the phantom image of a magnificent structure expanded outward.

Zero was unmoved, allowing her figure to be swallowed by the phantom image. In the next moment, when she regained her bearings, she was already standing inside a resplendent church.

Expressionless, she turned her head to look around.

Before her was a scene that seemed like it could only exist in Renaissance Italy. Through the sacred dome, the clear brilliance of the moonlight spilled down, washing over her.

And at this moment, only Lorenzo and she stood at the very center of the church.

Amidst the lingering chime of the bells, their eyes met.

"Just a question before we fight. Are you from the Roundtable?" Lorenzo asked suddenly.

"Then you really overestimate me," Zero said.

"For the record, I'm very interested in your ability." The young man stared at her, his eyes dark and deep. "And... it will very soon become mine."

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