A Guide to Humanity’s Extinction

The night was deep. High above the brightly lit city, two black dots sped close together through the air.

The girl held the boy’s hand, raising a pitch-black umbrella as they rode the night wind over the streets of Lijing. A moment later, the umbrella’s magnificent canopy folded shut, and they began to descend.

Magical Girl Ember touched down first, landing on the roof of a train speeding along the elevated railway.

Ke Mingqing landed atop the silver-white iron dragon a second later, taking two steps back.

Ember said nothing. Her stark black hair whipped in the wind, occasionally brushing her pale cheeks.

The girl lowered her eyes. She stood silent in the moonlight for a long time, letting Ke Mingqing study her face.

Then she turned, walked silently to the edge of the roof, and sat down. The hem of her skirt draped over the side like a withered black rose.

Ke Mingqing walked over and sat beside her.

The silver iron dragon hurtled toward an unknown destination. As they gazed out at the brightly lit metropolis, the roar of the train filled their ears, the night wind tossing their hair.

The train plunged into a tunnel, and the world instantly went dark.

”When did it start?”

This time, Ke Mingqing asked the same question.

The girl in the gothic dress stayed quiet. The tunnel’s dim yellow wall lights illuminated her downcast eyes.

”Two years ago,” she said. ”That was when the comet fragment inside my body awakened. Before I knew it, I had become a magical girl. Then someone found me. Her name was Xi Ziyue, and she asked if I wanted to be her apprentice.”

”The strongest of the Three Giants?”

”Yeah.”

Ke Mingqing fell silent. The train sped through the tunnel, the rushing wind lifting his bangs.

”Do you remember when we were little, and I said I was going to become a magical girl to protect you?” Ember asked suddenly.

”I remember.” Ke Mingqing thought for a moment. ”I think I was in first grade, and I got into a fight with someone?”

”I felt so bad for you back then.”

”I could tell. You cried harder than I did. Made me think you were the one who got beat up.”

Ember turned her head and shot him a lukewarm sideways glance. ”Surprised? I actually became a magical girl.”

”Come on, never mind surprised—my heart almost stopped back there.” Ke Mingqing sighed. ”What kind of joke is it, finding out your little sister is your idol?”

The girl in the gothic dress lowered her eyes and gave a soft chuckle.

The dim yellow wall lights illuminated the train roof, bathing her smile in a faint halo.

”Right, earlier when you told me you had a mental illness or something, you meant you might turn into a witch, right?” Ke Mingqing asked quietly.

Ember was silent for a moment. Then she gave a gentle nod and a calm, ”Yeah.”

”Then why didn’t you tell me?” Ke Mingqing turned to look at her. ”I really thought you were sick. I was even wondering if I should tell Mom and Dad.”

Ember didn’t answer. She stretched her pale legs over the edge, swinging them gently in the wind.

”Do you remember the day I killed someone for the first time?” she asked softly after a while.

Ke Mingqing nodded. Of course he remembered. That was the start of the public firestorm surrounding Magical Girl Ember. She had slaughtered a criminal named Ghost Hand Asura with a magical beam, his blood cascading down like a waterfall to dye an entire building red. The moment that unprecedentedly gory spectacle hit the media, the public uproar was instantaneous.

He thought back. ”You didn’t come home that night. We kept calling, but we couldn’t reach you.”

”Actually, I did go home that night,” she said softly.

Ke Mingqing froze, turning to look at her cold profile.

”You definitely don’t remember. I was sitting right outside your bedroom window.”

”Really?”

”Yeah.”

Ember lowered her eyes and told him what had happened that day.

At the time, it felt as if she were watching an entire skyscraper being dyed red with blood. The crowds in the plaza were screaming in sheer terror; the whole world seemed to be wailing and trembling. She saw the silhouette of a girl on the glass wall of the high-rise, grinning at her, laughing hoarsely.

She looked back abruptly to find that not just the bloodstained high-rise, but the glass walls of every surrounding building bore that same blood-red shadow.

It was the shadow of a witch.

Thousands of overlapping witch shadows completely surrounded her. No matter where she looked, the shadow never faded. It covered the world like a spiderweb, and that suffocating laughter cocooned her like a chrysalis.

Ember looked down, wanting to seek help from the people below.

But they looked at her like she was a monster. Their eyes held naked disgust and terror.

So that day, she ran away. She left everything behind. She hid in the tunnel of the abandoned train station, hugging her knees and staring blankly at the rusted tracks.

It wasn’t until night fell that she dared to walk out of the station.

Yet no matter where she went, she heard pedestrians whispering about what she had done.

Deep into the night, Ember sat hugging her knees, her head tilted as she stared blankly at his sleeping face.

But a moment later, she saw a blood-red shadow on the window, laughing at her.

”Please save me...” The girl in the gothic dress buried her head in her knees and murmured hoarsely, ”Brother...”

The train rushed on. The tunnel was dead silent, save for her cold, clear voice whispering softly.

”I knocked on the window for a long, long time, but you didn’t wake up. You were sleeping like a log.”

Ember’s tone was perfectly calm, as if the story had nothing to do with her.

Ke Mingqing listened quietly. He imagined her that day, hugging her knees all by herself outside the floor-to-ceiling window, turning her head to stare blankly at his sleeping face.

Perhaps that was the only way she could find a sliver of peace...

At that thought, Ke Mingqing turned to stare directly into her eyes. ”Unbelievable. Are you an idiot? You should have just woken me up.”

Magical Girl Ember hugged her knees, resting her chin gently upon them.

The hem of her black skirt trailed over the train’s iron shell, slowly fanning out like a dark lake spreading beneath the moonlight.

She shook her head. ”I was afraid that if I woke you up, you would look at me like a monster, too,” she whispered.

”And the other times?” Ke Mingqing sighed. ”You never told me you were a magical girl then, either.”

”I always wanted to tell you.”

”Then why—” Before he could finish, Ember cut him off: ”I was afraid of dragging you into danger, so I kept it a secret.”

Ke Mingqing gave a low, dry laugh. ”We’re pretty similar in that regard, aren’t we?”

They sat in silence for a while. The train sped through the tunnel, surrounded by pitch darkness.

”Why did you kill that criminal back then?” Ke Mingqing asked.

”He killed my friend.” Ember lowered her gaze. ”She was one of the few friends I had at school. She was just a normal person—she wasn’t even a magical girl. But she still met with something like that.”

”But—” Ke Mingqing hesitated.

She cut him off. ”I know. A magical girl who kills runs the risk of becoming a witch. But if the Tiamat Comet takes away my power before I transform, I’ll turn back into a normal person.”

Ke Mingqing remained silent.

”But,” Magical Girl Ember said, turning to look at Ke Mingqing, ”if I’ve already turned into a witch before the comet arrives...”

She paused. ”When that happens, I want you to kill me, okay?”

”I’m not going to kill you. Not even if you turn into a witch,” Ke Mingqing said, shaking his head with absolute certainty.

The girl in the gothic dress stared at him blankly. She looked at him in silence for a long time before withdrawing her gaze.

She turned her face away, gazing out at the brilliantly lit city.

”But by then, I wouldn’t be me anymore. Still... I’m really happy you said that. I always felt like no one could understand me. I had to hide it from our family, from my friends. I finally managed to hold on until now, but I still have the risk of becoming a witch. It felt like the whole world had given up on me.”

The girl paused. She turned her eyes—clear and cold as an aurora—toward him, her black hair dancing in the wind. ”But with you by my side, I feel completely at peace.”

Ke Mingqing fell silent, not speaking for a long time.

”Do you remember what I said by the sea, about joining you in your madness?” he asked a moment later.

”Yeah.”

Ke Mingqing looked up, staring quietly into her eyes.

Reason told him she was just a stranger. Since she was only a stranger, his decision right now, after weighing the pros and cons, should have been simple. By taking advantage of her feelings, he could easily manipulate her however he pleased.

She trusted others so easily. As long as he got close enough, he could hypnotize her into believing it, telling her, ”I really am your brother. I’m not some fake.”

If the day ever came when he was forced to reveal he was a player, his family and everyone close to him would draw their swords against him.

Even then, this girl would probably still rush over like a fool to protect him.

She would act like a vicious wolf, glaring at them with cold indignation. ”I don’t care what you say, he’s my brother. If you dare touch my brother, I’ll kill you—” She would say something like that, wouldn’t she?

Yes, Ke Mingqing was absolutely certain of it. That was exactly the kind of person she was—always unfalteringly steadfast in what she believed.

Taking advantage of her was incredibly simple. If he gave the correct response right now, she would trail behind him like an idiot, never letting go of his sleeve again.

Yet in this moment, the memories in his mind surged like a tidal wave.

When he was ten, the boy and girl walked through the abandoned train station. They stood on the mottled tracks, spreading their arms wide to balance like they were on a single-plank bridge.

After he played a prank on her, the girl squatted in the dimly lit tunnel, hugging her knees. She looked up, her eyes brimming with tears, and he lowered his head, gently kissing her lips.

The memories were fake. Everything was fake. He knew this, yet he still couldn’t help but see her as someone incredibly close to him. Heartache, fury, agony—these complex emotions intertwined in his mind.

A clear, cold voice interrupted his thoughts. ”You...”

Ke Mingqing froze and turned to look at her.

The girl hugged her knees. With a gaze and tone that bordered on self-abandonment, she asked, ”How are you going to join me in my madness?”

In that moment, a violent roar drowned out her words as the train burst out of the tunnel, arriving in the bustling city center. At the center of the world, bright, clear moonlight spilled over the boy and the girl.

”How am I going to join your madness...”

Ke Mingqing muttered. He lowered his head, taking a deep breath of the freezing air high above the city.

Then, he raised his right index finger, pointing it high into the distance toward the Superhero Company building, which towered like a giant.

Facing into the howling wind, the boy spoke. ”First, I’ll smash that damn company to pieces. Superheroes and all that crap are boring as hell, absolutely sickening!” He forcefully shifted his finger, pointing it toward the massive Lijing Iron Tower beneath the skyline. ”Then, I’ll tear that tower down right alongside it. It doesn’t matter how many people get killed in the process—I’m just that kind of scumbag anyway.” Finally, he pointed toward the Magical Girl Company in the distance. ”If you turn into a witch, the other magical girls will come hunt you down. If that happens, I’ll butcher every single one of them.”

The boy’s finger slowly dropped, and he lowered his voice. ”If you kill a hundred people, I’ll kill a thousand. If you kill a thousand, I’ll kill ten thousand.”

He paused. ”If the day ever comes when you become a witch, then I will become a devil. If the whole world is your enemy, then they are my enemies, too.”

Ember turned her head, staring at him blankly. She didn’t look away for a long time.

She had never seen this side of Ke Mingqing before. Right now, he looked like a childish boy, yet also like an imposing general directing the battlefield as he spouted wildly unrealistic boasts.

”Why?” she asked softly.

”Because you’re my sister.”

Ke Mingqing answered quickly, as if it was simply a matter of course.

He rubbed the bridge of his nose. ”And didn’t I already tell you? I’ll join you in your madness.”

The rushing wind whipped up Ember’s hair. She lowered her eyes, her eyes already red.

The next moment, the girl in the gothic dress turned her face. Leaning over with lightning speed, she pressed her lips gently and silently against his cheek.

For that single second, the roar of the engines drowned out every sound in the world. A cool, soft touch lingered on Ke Mingqing’s cheek, and his ears turned slightly red.

The train continued its relentless sprint. The boy sat perfectly still, planted like a statue, his thoughts already drifting into the unknown distance.