I Will Fulfill Your Desire.

Marcus jumped to the side when the burning flame, like an infernal whirlwind, hit him at the behest of Rick. The former servant turned out to be a diligent student, his experience in using the abilities endowed by Marcus was at a level comparable to the Master himself.

"Are you looking for death? My patience is not unlimited!" Marcus easily dodged Rick's next blow, even with muffled abilities, his body did not lose its reflexes.

"It's time for you to meet your death!" Rick's eyes were burning with a thirst for revenge, he felt the growing power in his body, like a snow avalanche or tsunami, gaining strength every second.

Marcus had to make an effort to avoid blows that could cause serious damage. His abilities were temporarily unavailable, and he could only rely on his body.

In his hands was everything he needed - a knife and a pendant - but he could not teleport, and even if he could, leaving Rick in this state was dangerous for others. This idiot, instead of executing the order, embedded two additional chips in himself.

Rick was aware of the possible consequences and still did it.

Amelia's notes were accurate even in that. Marcus tried several times to change things, but this was yet another proof of the futility of his attempts.

As soon as Marcus saw Rick's eyes, he immediately realized that an irreversible process of self-destruction started in his body. This has already happened more than once with other experimentals in the laboratory of Marc Technologies.

Philip Carter, who attacked Elena, was one of those who could not cope with the power of the chip and succumbed to madness, his body could not withstand the pressure, which led to the rupture of internal organs and death. However, Carter could have survived if Rick had closely monitored his condition, rather than hanging around elsewhere at the most important moment.

This guy from the very beginning gave Marcus more problems than anybody else, which only exacerbated the man's irritation since in his previous life Richard Steiner was on the list of people whom Marcus could not tolerate the most. Even Hitler was in third place after him, at the head of the list, of course, was him - his and Armand's father.

The operation of the chips was closely intertwined with the human nervous system, and if the destruction of organs was difficult to stop, but it was possible, then the destruction of the nervous system, the disconnection of rationality and logical thinking was almost impossible to stop.

Unless, if a person had a strong incentive, allowing him to maintain his composure. Something that would be unchanging and important for him, that even if a person is mired in the abyss of madness and forgets about himself, he will be true to his choice even in unconsciousness.

Rick easily moved to Marcus and with all his strength struck another blow, the man bounced to the side, his palms were leaned on the ground to maintain his balance. Marcus's breath was knocked down, drops of sweat appeared on his forehead.

"Something tells me you don't look good, Master Taubert," in Rick's voice, uncharacteristic notes resembled the restrained roar of a wild beast.

Marcus covered his bruised spot with his hand and straightened up, even being without his special powers, he exuded an aura of a powerful man, and Stein was very annoyed by that. From their very first meeting after the rebirth of Rick, he did not like this trait of Marcus.

The teenager, who did everything possible to earn the trust of his father in the past, turned into an imperious and uncompromising adult man, burning all bridges and ignoring all the rules on the way to achieving his goals. Skillful manipulator and ruthless strategist, full of hypocrisy and falsity - this was how Stein saw him.

"If you knew how much I hate you. I'm ready to tear your body into small pieces and scatter them all over the earth, just to be sure that I will never see your face!" Rick rushed at Marcus. Fire was burning in his eyes, heat was gaining strength in his chest, which required immediate release. He no longer saw what was around, all of Rick's attention was focused on one object and one goal.

"Ahaha, you are just a wimp! Do you hate me? And most of all I hate people who shift responsibility for their actions to others!" Marcus laughed, Rick was looking at him with completely red eyes, and Taubert realized that it would be impossible to get him back. The man was absorbed in his emotions, and there was no point in invoking his mind.

Marcus assessed the situation with peripheral vision and began to move slowly towards the entrance of the pyramid, away from Elena and the children, Rick did not take his eyes off him, like a distraught beast who finally cornered its prey after several days of hunger.

"What is it, do you want to tell a pitiful story that the bad Uncle Marcus clouded your brains? Did he manipulate you for the sake of his own goals? Ha! Common, you had so many opportunities to make a difference, but like a ram, you blindly obeyed your own vanity!" Marcus continued to provoke Rick in the hope that the necessary neuron would be plugged into his brain, and Stein would be able to take control of his mind, although before that there had not been a single case for one of the subjects to succeed.

"I was still just a child!" Rage seized Rick with such force that he was ready to tear off his skin in order to release its destructive power. An energy wave, similar to that of an atomic explosion, spread in all directions, breaking huge stone boulders standing around the perimeter of the site into small pieces.

Stones of various shapes flew like hail, falling on everyone all around. Daniel threw himself in the direction of the children to shield them with his body from a possible blow.

"And what about the fact that you were still a child?! I should have done you a favor and show generosity?! I don't remember that you and my father had a similar trait when you started to do your damn experiments! So stop fooling yourself! In your decisions - right or wrong - you and only you are to blame! You can accuse me of manipulating you as much as you like and you will be right about it, but you were always the one who could make the final choice!"

Marcus knew that he was far from the image of a moral person and that his hands have taken more than a dozen of lives since he became what he was now. But he did not intend to add the mistakes of other people to his sins.

For Rick, the man's words were like a red-hot knife stuck in the heart. He, like no other, understood that with his own hands and decisions he had taken, he deprived himself of the only opportunity for happiness. He lost the only woman he ever loved, and he abandoned her as a child, in the early morning, when she was standing alone at the door of the hotel and waiting for him to come.

If he hadn't accepted Marcus's offer then, if he got out of the car at that moment, if he tried to understand his feelings, and didn't follow the sordid desires, if he agreed to run away with her and secretly get married in some small church on the outskirts of a provincial European town, if he only once again looked into her eyes... In his life there were so many "ifs", but he did not take advantage of any of them.

Rick's heart was gripped by longing and disappointment; he felt as if something had clicked in his head. He had only one decision to make, at the back of his mind he already knew that there would never be a way back for him.

He noticed David's knife lying on the ground nearby, the man snapped his fingers, and the next second a metal object was in his hand. Blood throbbed in his ears, his heart was beating so fast that it was ready to explode from tension at any moment.

Rick took a breath, teleported and with all his strength thrust a knife into Marcus's heart. The sharp blade easily entered the soft flesh along the handle, the man staggered and fell to the ground loudly.

Marcus felt the tips of his fingers begin to cool, he turned his head and saw the silhouette of a woman. Regeneration was too slow for his body to turn on protective functions. The effect of the injection gradually passed, but the forces were weakened to resist.

Rick fell to his knees next to the man's body, the buzz in his head grew every second, his heart was beating to the limit. He grabbed the handle of a knife and ripped it out of Marcus's body.

Scarlet blood flowed down a sharp blade, gleaming in the midday sun. The color of red was so bewitching, it overshadowed everything that Rick saw around him as if the whole world was filled with this crimson light. He turned the knife with the blade toward him and pointed it to his chest.

Marcus pulled the kukri from his pocket, Rick's eyes seemed empty and lifeless, "If you want death, I will fulfill your desire," Marcus said, waved his hand, and the kukri slipped from his palm towards its target.