The Lord of Rot

A stern looking man - a polar opposite to how Konrad looked. He had this look about him that seemed smug, like he had been fed with the most high quality of foods. This was purely speculative, but a man as starving as Konrad (well-fed but not by food) could only see this aura around him with a bit of jealousy, and a bit of anger. 

Nothing about the man seemed threatening or fearful - he seemed rather kind weren't it for his eyes being smug and all that. Konrad didn't notice nor did he want to the specific features of the man - trying to make him seem less human, after all, he hadn't killed a human being before, he didn't want to feel regret, pity or sadness once it had been done. 

Therefore he tried his very best to make it seem less human - but all of this would only be in the case that he did survive, and that was not yet certain. After all, this man was known for winning battles against humans - wasn't he? And Konrad on the other hand - he knew he had never stained his hands with the blood of a human before. 

His hands were bare, he didn't have any weapons or the like - he must have relied on his body in the same way Konrad did - but not seeing anything strange, he couldn't have instantly believed that Gabriel - the angel, had the same kind of strength that he did. Konrad conquered creatures, monsters, anomalies, abominations, all of these things he had fought and killed, he absorbed their very rotting bodies - what could this man have done? 

The most difficult thing would be the killing - that he had to kill another man - another human! And he looked like such a human being too! 

Konrad saw his strength, his muscles, the way he prepared for battle by relaxing his entire body. He also heard the cheers in the background, they cheered: "Come on! Do it! Do it like you did before! Come on!" But he was quite sure now that they didn't cheer for him - 'like before?' 

Konrad smiled slightly at him - like any person in the housings would - without any true emotions of course. He hoped that the man wouldn't smile back, wouldn't do anything reminiscent of a human...

Luckily, the man did smile back. His jaw clinched back and rows and rows of teeth smiled back at him. He looked like a human all right, but in the same way Konrad's arm and leg were disfigured, his mouth seemed like a monster. 

'Didn't expect that, I won't have problems killing that I don't think'

'Fuck!' 

Konrad got out of the way, seeing how the "angel", a name not fitting for a monster like that had already leapt to the other side of the arena. It looked like he was trying to bite him, jaw first and all. 

As he ran he bent his body forward, he looked like a devil when he did that. Konrad would almost feel threatened, but then again - a devil is someone of contradictions, suddenly he stood straight and closed his mouth - his teeth reverted to normal, and then he looked towards him with a kind gaze

"Why are you avoiding me?" 

"What?" 

"You heard me." 

"We are fighting." 

"Yes?"

"I'm not supposed to let you kill me am I?" 

"Usually they aren't fast enough to dodge, I don't know what to do now."

"..." 

Then the man leaned backwards a bit. 

"Ah... you are just too lucky, you mostly just have to fight against non-humans, but I was chosen - you know, to fight the others. And it just gets so boring after a while, limb after limb, their bodies flailing - humans are weak, aren't they?" 

Then he turned to him, contorted his face again and said: 

"Like the angels I was chosen! I was taken to be a saviour! To cleanse them of the rot of this world! I adore this place, I adore and pity the naive souls who end up here! That is why I tear them apart, break the chains that bind them!"

Then Konrad would grow appalled:

"How do you know that?" 

"Know that, see for yourself! You have a fate that awaits you!" 

'This man is crazy!' 

Konrad became a bit angry almost at the man - for if one thing was certain, it was how extremely unaware and stupid everyone was on earth nowadays. And if someone stood there and assumed they were an angel, that they had other's fate inside their hands. He couldn't stand by that...

He ran towards him, focusing all of his energy in his hand. 

Striking him with velocity, the angel dodged quickly. 

He felt something grazing his stomach region, he felt a claw, a blade, something sharp tearing through his skin. 

His body subconsciously twisted and jumped away before he would die. 

"Huh, I'm impressed... often they're dead by now. I just let their guts spill out, lift them in the air like a cross then tear them apart, then the audience laughs and cheers, ha-ha-ha!" 

'Ah, how much of a devil can this "angel" be...' 

Konrad was worried though, he felt a sharp hand pierce his stomach. 

He looked down towards it, and saw nothing special. It had already healed. 

He only looked away for a few seconds - his mind completely absorbed by the fight, nothing should have been able to bring him out of it. But perhaps the words he spoke were distractions, he had been preoccupied just critiquing the way the man spoke, the way he had acted. The hypocrisy of him being called an angel.

He remembered the angels from the scriptures, the Doctrine spoke of them as well. But they described them as harrowing, but beautiful creatures. Winged beasts, all servants of the Old God, but this man before him was no angel. He looked like a cheap copy of one. He was full of trickery, treachery, he was a liar above all else.

'Lucky I'm not him.' 

Then out of nowhere, perhaps not... 

"Too slow" said Gabriel. 

He was already beside him preparing for another attack...