A flash of light appeared in the middle of an empty street and from it came Azrael. It was no coincidence that there were no people or cars.
The title God of Fate belongs to another, but Azrael is the angel of death and so holds considerable control over how, when, and where someone dies. He is also a manipulator of causality.
Before he arrived, he had influenced the causal factors of everything within a field with a radius of 100 km in the city. The closer to the center, the greater the effect.
People suddenly felt the urge to stay home for various reasons like feeling lazy, feeling depressed, feeling like doing some indoor activities. Every individual was unique.
A man suddenly feels that he needed to come home early to check on his wife because he suspected something.
A mother who had been thinking of a way to cheer up her kids had a flash of inspiration from a cookery magazine to come home early and cook up a delicious dinner and dessert.
A hormonal teenager couldn't wait to come home to do certain things in the dark with a bright desktop screen.
Whatever wasn't a stretch against their personality and reason, had to sway over their decisions.
Thus, there were no witnesses and no cars in the way for at least 60 seconds.
Azrael opened the palm of his hand and said, "Elijah Whitlock."
Elijah's golden thread of life which was invisible and intangible became visible above the area of the Azrael's palm.
There was a golden padlock on it which the thread ran through. The lock had a symbol of Fortuna's cornucopia (horn of plenty) engraved in the center of its face. The lock protected Elijah's gold tether.
Azrael snorted and clicked his fingers. The lock burst into tiny gold light particles which floated up and disappeared.
Then he held the string between his forefinger and thumb. When he pinched it, it shattered into golden fragments that faded away.
Fortuna felt this realms away and reeled from a sharp pain in her head.
"My Goddess! What's wrong!" A servant asked.
"Elijah's thread of life is broken! It cannot be!" She said pressing the side of her head with her hand.
"AZRAEL!!!" She yelled.
Although Azrael could not see this, he had a grin when he imagined how furious she is right now.
Azrael clicked his fingers, and a bright flash of light appeared. After the light disappeared, a big white truck without a load had appeared. He had brought his favorite and most powerful truck out of a pocket dimension.
The Volvo Iron Knight. The world's most powerful truck. Equipped with the I-Shift Dual Clutch gearbox, it had 2400 horsepower and can reach 100 km per hour in just 4.6 seconds.
There was just one modification on the engine. It was silent and deadly. This was a magical effect.
Azrael caressed the front of the truck then moved to the side. His hands followed. The left hand stopped and held the top of the front and the right hand traced the round line of the fender. It was smooth and cool to touch.
He kept moving his hands back and forth along the fender as if he was stroking a big cat.
"That's it, baby. I feel you're hungry."
The truck roared in response when the car ignition turned on.
It was a sentient truck. It had a weak soul and was a creature of culture. Feeding on the virgin blood of reincarnators.
As its soul became larger and greater in quality, so did its intelligence. It hasn't been able to speak yet but Azrael was patient.
*Vroom Vroom*
The wheels sped up with the brakes on.
"I'm sorry. I know that you've been hungry for a long time, but you know how the others are saying bad things about us."
*Vroooom Vroom!*
The Iron Knight wouldn't accept that apology.
"I know, love. We're going to eat now ok?"
The truck went quiet.
Azrael smiled and then climbed onto the driver's seat.
He missed the feel of the leather racer-like chair and the grips of the steering wheel.
After stroking it, he then turned on the stereo system and played a randomized music list that he had created just for when he was reaping souls with a truck. When he heard the song play, he smiled.
He sang with the song.
"Let the bodies hit the floor, let the bodies hit the floor-"
He saw the traffic light ahead turned red. Seconds later, a girl ran onto the road just as he had expected her to. After all, he had controlled every little interaction Elijah and Alyssa had with each other.
How many steps they walked, how many breaths they took, or how many heartbeats have transpired. What they had said a word for word. He had calculated everything to the T.
It has led to this exact moment.
Azrael grinned and stepped on the accelerator pedal all the way.
The truck quickly picked up speed.
Elijah sprinted towards Alyssa and shouted "Run!"
However, Elijah's sudden panic only confused her and detracted from the precious time she had.
She looked to the side and saw a truck that was rapidly approaching. To her shock, there was no one in the driver's seat of the truck.
Fear can be a great motivator but too much of it can make you move slower. Here, Alyssa's body responded by freezing.
Elijah jumped straight for her.
'Please! Make it in time!' Elijah thought.
It was like time had slowed down.
He rammed into Alyssa, pushing her out of the way. The transfer of momentum slowed him down, but he was almost out of the truck's path.
Almost.
"Let the bodies hit the floor, let the bodies hit the… FLOOOR!!!"
The truck had reached a speed of 100 kph in 4.6 seconds. At that speed, it had connected with Elijah's legs in the air. Every bone in his feet was shattered into hundreds of fragments and the bones in the lower body that wasn't directly hit were broken and dislocated at the joints.
The force of the impact spun his body 90 degrees to the right when he landed on the road.
The truck turned around the corner before flashing out of existence.