A Guide to Humanity’s Extinction

It was late, and the classroom was brightly lit. Xi Ziyue took a sip of tea, not even bothering to look up as she asked,

"Did you bring a friend?"

Magical Girl Ember slowly turned her pale face, casting a suspicious glance toward the window in the corner.

It was pitch-black outside, but the candlelight on the long table flickered. The orange glow spread outward, illuminating White Jack's face at that very moment—

Ghastly white skin, a mouth split wide at the corners, and hollow eyes filled with black-and-white static, like a broken television screen.

The scene looked straight out of a B-movie horror flick: a group of teens chatting comfortably on a summer night, only for one of them to accidentally turn their head and see a grotesque face hanging upside down outside the window.

Ember froze in place, her heart suddenly clenching as if gripped by a giant hand.

Meanwhile, Ke Mingqing remained completely unfazed.

From the very beginning, he didn't think his puppet could hide from Xi Ziyue's eyes. After all, she was known as one of the Three Giants. A reputation could be faked, but could an S Rank on a super-human species status panel really be forged?

Therefore, the moment Xi Ziyue stepped off the train, Ke Mingqing had already assumed she had discovered his Theater Puppet.

And indeed, that was the case... Xi Ziyue casually remarked to Ember, "It seems he isn't your friend after all."

Only then did Ember snap out of her shock. She took a deep breath, the look in her eyes beneath her bangs gradually turning cold.

Xi Ziyue had practically spelled it out. This thing had followed her here—and yet, for all this time, she had been completely oblivious. The realization filled Ember with humiliation and anger.

Yet at this moment, White Jack hanging outside the window didn't seem to have the self-awareness of a peeping tom.

It waved at Ember, as if greeting an old friend.

With its other hand, it lifted the tip of a magician's cane and slowly traced two crooked words into the dust on the old window:

"Hello."

After writing those words, it broke into a wide grin, fully taking in the girl's astonished and furious glare.

In the silence, Ember raised her right arm, gripping her umbrella with one hand. Pointing the pitch-black tip straight at White Jack's head, she pulled the trigger without even looking up.

Bang!

The gunshot tore through the classroom's silence as a black magic bullet shattered the window and shot outward.

However, White Jack had anticipated this.

It preemptively released its legs, which had been wrapped around the rooftop railing, and let its body plummet into the night, narrowly dodging the magic bullet. Had it been half a second slower, its head would have been blown clean off.

Both the bullet and White Jack vanished into the night, leaving no further sound.

Magical Girl Ember turned to watch this, lowering her voice as she spoke.

"Master, I'll go catch it."

"Take the protective amulet I gave you," Xi Ziyue replied without looking up, flipping through a fashion magazine while sipping her hot tea.

Ember nodded. Bending her knees slightly, she stomped against the floor. With her skirt fluttering, her figure swept across half the classroom like a gust of wind.

The girl's lithe body darted through the shattered window.

In midair, she raised her umbrella. Ripples of magic spread across the canopy, propelling her high into the sky. She dashed through the night, leaping over brightly lit high-rises as she gave chase to that ghastly white figure.

It didn't take long for her to catch up to the Theater Puppet's back.

This was the top of an elevated railway, the surroundings so dark she couldn't see her own hand in front of her face.

Less than thirty meters separated the girl and the puppet.

At this moment, the Theater Puppet no longer seemed to plan on fleeing. Its white top hat slowed its rotation, allowing it to hover in midair.

Just then, a beam of snow-white headlights shone from afar, slicing through the darkness on the overpass.

White Jack turned its head. Its eerie face was illuminated by the headlights, its hollow eyes flashing with a strange brilliance.

"Is it really necessary to be so fixated on a nobody like me?" it asked, its body slowly drifting downward.

At that exact second, a silver-white iron dragon sped out from the tunnel. The Theater Puppet landed on the roof of the high-speed train, the metal beneath its feet trembling and roaring with a deafening rumble.

The night wind blew head-on. White Jack reached up to adjust its top hat, settling it firmly on its head.

Ember closed her umbrella and landed just as steadily on the train's roof.

The girl remained silent, only knitting her delicate brows. The night wind descended from above, tossing her long black hair and making her skirt billow out like a black rose.

"Why are you following me?" she finally spoke, her voice a low interrogation.

"Oh, because I'm your number one fan, of course," White Jack replied in a bizarre, theatrical accent. "I simply wanted to learn a little more about you, that's all."

"Disgusting..."

The gothic-dressed girl spoke blankly. She raised her head, staring straight into the puppet's hollow eyes.

Reaching out with her left hand, she slowly drew a tachi blade from the base of her umbrella handle, sliding it out like a sword from its sheath. The crisp moonlight caught the tip of the blade. The dim steel reflected the girl's icy expression.

Ember's magic weapon, Cinderella, was highly versatile—which was exactly why she had caught Xi Ziyue's eye. Cinderella could use its open canopy as a shield, house a long blade in its handle for close-quarters combat, and even fire beams or bullets from its tip to strike distant enemies.

White Jack tilted its head, staring at this display without an ounce of concern. "I know your secret."

"Stop bluffing." Ember took a step forward, slowly advancing toward it.

Suddenly, it tipped down the brim of its hat and raised both hands in a gesture of surrender. It opened its mouth, but the howling night wind and the roar of the train drowned out its voice.

Still, reading its lips, Ember understood exactly what it said in that moment:

"Xia Zili."

That was... her name.

The gothic-dressed girl froze abruptly. A massive wave of terror exploded in her chest, nearly drowning her heart. In that moment, neither the train's engine nor the roaring wind could reach her ears.

The world fell completely silent.

It took her a long time to finally take a shocked step back.

Xia Zili had been working as a magical girl for two years, yet she had never encountered an enemy who knew her true identity...

This was a situation she had never faced before. It felt as though two completely different worlds had violently collided, leaving her with a chaotic sense of panic and bewilderment.

But just a second later, the expression on her face chilled over. The fear morphed into uncontrollable rage.

With her blade drawn, the gothic-dressed girl shot forward like a pitch-black falcon, her figure instantly closing the distance to appear right in front of White Jack.

In a split second, the blade—trailing a ripple of black magic and catching the clear moonlight—slashed directly for its neck!

A fierce gale blew in its face, but White Jack merely stared straight ahead, its expression calm. In this fleeting second, it unleashed the skill equipped in its second skill slot.

[E Rank Skill Activated — "Phantom Shift" (Instantly swap positions with a living target within a twenty-meter radius).]

[Cooldown: 1 hour.]

The next moment, its figure swapped places with the gothic-dressed girl. The tachi slashed through empty air.

The blade-like ripple of magic swept out unhindered, carving a massive gorge across the roof of the high-speed train.

The sudden, violent tremor sent the passengers inside the train screaming.

"A position swap?" The space directly in front of Ember was completely empty.

"By the way, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is 'White Jack'," the Theater Puppet whispered eerily from behind her. It leaped high into the air, its spinning top hat carrying it away into the distant sky.

"Goodbye then, Xia Zi—oh, my apologies, Miss Ember."

But before it could even finish its sentence, Ember processed the situation. She spun around and raised her umbrella, its tip blasting out a pitch-black magic bullet.

Bang!

The bullet instantly pierced straight through White Jack's heart.

Clutching its chest, White Jack wobbled through the night sky like a kite with a snapped string. Finally, it deliberately let its body plummet, drifting down toward Lijing Square.

With a wet squelch, it was impaled on the spire of the Lijing Iron Tower, looking just like Jesus pinned to the cross.

Crimson blood flowed down the spire. Its body hung completely motionless.

The crowds in the square looked up, screaming at the grisly sight. Chasing after it from the roof of the silver train, Ember immediately froze.

'It died?' Magical Girl Ember hovered in midair, staring blankly as a thought crossed her mind. 'Is this a setup?'

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