"Greetings, you panthetic humans."
The voice hit Claude like a freight train. It wasn't just loud—it was something that seemed to shake his very bones. His chest tightened, and for a second, he couldn't breathe. All around him, people were freaking out, their faces twisted in confusion and disbelief. Everyone was staring up at the same impossible sight: a black-winged figure floating in the air like some kind of nightmare come to life.
Claude couldn't look away either. This thing—this Black Angel with burning golden eyes—was terrifying in a way that made his skin crawl. It wasn't just powerful. It was something else entirely. Something that made him feel like an ant about to be stepped on.
But weirdly, underneath all that fear, Claude felt something else stirring inside him. Like electricity running through his veins. Like some part of him was actually responding to this creature's presence.
"What the hell is this? Some kind of movie shoot?" a guy next to Claude muttered, rubbing his eyes. "Must be some crazy CGI effect. Damn, it looks so real!"
Other people nodded, pulling out their phones to record. They were treating this like some viral video in the making. Flash after flash went off as they captured the Black Angel hovering above the city skyline.
"You think this is a joke?" The Black Angel's voice boomed again, but this time Claude could hear the disgust and rage in it. "You think you're what, exactly? Disgusting insects crawling on the ground, daring to treat our presence as cheap entertainment!"
The creature leaned forward, its sharp gaze sweeping over the crowd like a predator sizing up its prey. "Look at yourselves. You're trapped in your pathetic little lives, thinking you're so advanced. But what are you really? Just slaves fighting for scraps, competing for crumbs of power, then dying meaningless deaths."
Each word cut deep. Claude felt like the Black Angel was speaking directly to him, calling out every failure, every moment of weakness in his life.
"You think you're free? You think you're strong? You can't even understand who you really are, let alone question our existence!"
The insults kept coming, each one like a slap to the face. Claude's anger started to burn in his chest, even though he knew he was powerless against this thing.
A stocky guy in a leather jacket had apparently heard enough. His face was red with rage, fists clenched tight. This was clearly someone who wasn't used to being disrespected, and the Black Angel's words had shattered his ego completely.
"You bastard!" the man shouted. "Shut the hell up! You don't know anything! You have no right to insult us like that!"
Before anyone could react, the guy had pulled out a gun from inside his jacket. Where the hell had that come from? He aimed it straight at the Black Angel's chest.
"Eat this, you son of a bitch!" he screamed. "You have no right to speak here!"
BANG!
The gunshot was deafening. Claude held his breath, watching the bullet streak toward the creature. Maybe this would end it. Maybe this thing could actually be hurt.
But the bullet just bounced off. Like it had hit an invisible wall. A ripple of energy shimmered around the Black Angel, and the bullet clattered uselessly to the ground.
The leather jacket guy went pale. His hands were shaking as he fired again and again, but every shot was the same. Useless.
The Black Angel looked at him with cold, emotionless eyes. "Truly brave, insect. But your courage is nothing but foolish arrogance."
In the blink of an eye, the Black Angel vanished. Not flying, not running—just gone. And then it reappeared right behind the gunman. The movement was so fast that Claude's eyes could barely follow it.
Before the man could even turn around, the Black Angel's hand was gripping his head. Blue light pulsed from its palm, and Claude could feel some kind of strange energy radiating from it.
"This is a lesson for all of you," the Black Angel's voice filled the entire street. "For those who dare challenge us. For those who still cling to illusions of your fragile strength."
CRACK!
The sound was sickening. Like a watermelon being dropped from a skyscraper. The man's head exploded in the Black Angel's grip, blood and brain matter spraying everywhere. The metallic smell of blood mixed with that sulfur scent that had been growing stronger.
Screams erupted from the crowd. Real screams this time. Nobody thought this was a movie anymore. People were running, pushing each other, trampling anyone who fell. Pure panic.
Claude stumbled backward, bile rising in his throat. He'd seen violence before, but this was different. This was brutal, merciless murder. The fear he'd been holding back came crashing over him like a tidal wave.
"Stop!"
The Black Angel's voice boomed again, but this time it wasn't just sound. The air itself became heavy, pressing down on everyone like a massive weight. Claude felt his legs give out, his knees hitting the pavement hard. Around him, everyone else was collapsing too, their faces slamming into the asphalt.
He tried to stand, but it was impossible. It felt like gravity had been cranked up to a thousand times normal. People were crying, struggling, gasping for air under the crushing pressure.
The Black Angel hovered above them, those golden eyes taking in every terrified face like it was enjoying their suffering. A thin smile crossed its pale lips.
"Calm yourselves, little insects," it said, its voice quieter but somehow more menacing. "Our presence here is not to annihilate you... at least, not all of you."
That made everything worse. Not all of you?That meant some of them were going to die.
The Black Angel sighed like it was bored. "Listen carefully. We have come to this world for a purpose far greater than you could comprehend. A purpose that will change your destiny forever."
Claude could barely breathe, his lungs feeling compressed. But his mind was racing. Change destiny? What did that even mean? Was this thing going to destroy the world?
"You have lived too long in ignorance and weakness," the Black Angel continued like it was giving some twisted sermon. "You are trapped in an endless cycle of suffering, hunger, and despair."
Those words hit Claude like physical blows. Suffering. Hunger. Despair. That was his entire life summed up. Did this creature somehow know about him?
"We have come to offer you a choice," the Black Angel raised its hand, blue light swirling around its palm. "A choice between remaining powerless insects we can crush at will, or... becoming something more."
There was a pause. Those golden eyes swept over the crowd again, and for a moment, they seemed to focus directly on Claude. In that brief glance, Claude felt like the creature was seeing right through him, into every painful memory, every moment of weakness.
"The Carrot or the Stick."
The words echoed in Claude's mind. Two choices. But what did they really mean? What was this thing offering? Some kind of sweet promise that would end in destruction? Or was there actually a way out of this nightmare?
The air around the Black Angel began to swirl, blue energy forming a vortex that grew larger and larger. The sky above started to curve, like it was being pulled by some invisible force.
Claude stared up at it, his body wracked with pain from the gravitational pressure. But curiosity was eating away at him. He had to know. What exactly was this creature offering? What was the "something more" it was talking about?
The question burned in his mind as the Black Angel's aura reached its peak, and that thin, barely visible smile returned to its lips. The night was just getting started, and for Claude, this was the beginning of a destiny he never could have imagined.