The Devil's Good Girl-Chapter 303: A victor emerged

Back in Michael’s place.

"Farewell."

Michael’s eyes slowly dilated and before he could even think twice, he jumped from his spot to tackle Marcus. Unfortunately, a normal human would never stand a chance against a demon. Marcus swiftly flung his arms, sending Michael flying across the room.

Thud!

Michael’s breath suspended as pain crawled through every fiber of his body. His body crashed into the wall, falling on the floor with a violent thud. He intuitively hunched in pain, gasping for air as his lungs constricted.

However, his interference wasn’t as useless because the brief second Marcus dealt with him, Jackson took advantage of it. He launched a powerful kick toward Marcus, sending him flying out of the door.

"Michael!" Jackson leaped from his spot, squatting in front of Michael after a second. "Michael, are you okay?"

Michael slowly gazed up at him, teeth clenched. "Jackson... what the hell happened to him?"

"I’ll explain to you later."

"Jack." Michael clasped Jackson’s chest when the latter was about to walk away. He waited for Jackson to look at him before he said, "I don’t know what’s going on, but that thing... we have to escape here. I have a secret passage and..."

"Use it." Jackson clasped his hand and lowered his head. "If you have a secret passage to leave this place, crawl to it and hide while I deal with him."

"What?"

"Michael." A glint flickered across Jackson’s eyes as his expression turned more solemn. "Marcus is here to kill you. He will stop at nothing to do that."

"Why?"

Jackson’s jaw tightened. "Quentin." He could just tell him because Quentin wanted to break Fil by massacring all her loved ones. However, he didn’t want Michael to think of Fil differently. At least, he wanted to protect Fil, even at this point.

"Quentin," Michael repeated, tempted to ask who this guy was.

Marcus mentioned him earlier before this all fell out of proportion. His curiosity toward this person leapt, but at the same time, this was no time for curiosity. This was no time for clarity.

It was a time for survival.

"Listen to me, Mike." Jackson shook him and pulled him up. "I’ll keep Marcus busy. Once you leave this place, my men are waiting outside. Tell them the situation here. They’ll know what to do."

This place was no longer safe and thus, every person in the building needed to evacuate. Jackson was still unsure what Marcus was capable of. It was the first time he fought with someone like Marcus. Hence, he didn’t want innocent civilians to get hurt.

"Go." Jackson tapped his shoulders and in a blink of an eye, he disappeared from in front of Michael.

Michael stared at the empty spot before him blankly. When he heard another thud outside, he shook his head.

’I need to get out of here,’ he told himself, repeating that like a chant in his mind. ’I have to leave and ask for help.’

Michael crawled his way toward the secret room that would take him to a private elevator. He didn’t know what was happening and why it went silent outside the bedroom. All he could think of was to do his role and leave. He couldn’t keep burdening Jackson because, compared to him, Jackson seemed to have this impossible strength.

****

Jackson and Marcus engaged in an intense close combat fight. Considering Marcus had just awakened not long ago, he was exercising overwhelming strength. Not to mention, he was also a black belter in martial arts.

With these thoughts in mind, Jackson assumed Marcus retained all his memories with some added layers of darkness in his soul.

After minutes of fighting, Jackson exerted more power and strength. Despite his dulling senses, he could still overpower Marcus. But just as he launched a fatal blow, Marcus suddenly disappeared in front of him.

The lobby of Michael’s place was already turned upside down. Looking around, Jackson sniffed to figure out where Marcus had gone. Unfortunately, it seemed Marcus escaped his ultimate doom.

"He left," Jackson whispered and in a blink of an eye, he vanished from his spot to follow Marcus’s trail.

Jackson couldn’t rely on his heightened senses anymore, but he still had his instinct to follow.

****

Marcus stood at the rooftop of the building, staring at the city skyline. The sun would soon break out and rise, but people on the ground were already out and about. After just another breath, he felt another person’s presence several meters behind him.

"Marcus," called Jackson in a grim tone.

Much to Jackson’s surprise, when Marcus looked back, he didn’t bear the same viciousness he carried. If anything, he seemed terrified and shocked.

"You..." Marcus breathed out. "Why did you turn me like this?"

Jackson furrowed his brows. "What?"

"That heart..." Marcus clasped his chest. "Why did you take it out?"

Jackson was confused. Just now, he was battling this guy to death, but now, Marcus was accusing him of nonsense. When realization dawned on Jackson, a brief feeling tugged his heart.

"That heart... wasn’t it yours?"

Marcus’ face twisted and just by his bitter expression, Jackson immediately got his answer.

If that heart in Marcus’s chest wasn’t his, then whose heart was it?

Jackson pondered, the assumption in his mind brought this indescribable dismay in his heart. "It was Kim’s?"

Thud!

Marcus suddenly fell on his knees, clasping his head. He clenched his teeth, sobbing through his gritted teeth.

"Please kill me now," Marcus hunched in on the ground, hitting his forehead against it. "Kill me now. I can’t let him out — I don’t want it anymore. Please. Take this demon out of me. He’ll kill me!"

Marcus panicked as he regained his senses for a reason he couldn’t understand. However, what he was certain of was that whoever that demon in him wasn’t him. That wasn’t him. Marcus might admit to being a cruel and remorseless person. But that darkness crawling under his skin was pure evil.

Marcus knew that if he didn’t die, that monster would eventually eat him from the inside and out. The mere thought of it terrified him into madness. He would rather die now, he thought, than become someone else’s puppet for whatever sick reason.

"Please, please, please!" he whimpered. "While he’s out, please — ahaha!"

His sobs turned into maniac laughter in a snap of a finger. Marcus straightened his back again, cocking his head as he burst out in laughter.

"Haist... this pathetic piece of lowly human!" Marcus hissed to himself, shifting his glowing eyes back to Jackson. "Hah. Humans. What a pathetic existence. He could be a part of a new world, the beginning of the end, and the rise of the new ruler. And yet, after a brief moment he could come out, he wants to die. Pathetic."

Jackson pressed his lips, slightly understanding Marcus’s situation. Despite the bitterness and sorrow in his heart for being forced to destroy Kim’s heart, he still had to deal with this one and rejoin Fil to beat Quentin.

"So this is how it works for you as well," Jackson stalled as he utilized the energy within him. "Regardless of your ruthless actions, you still have to fight with his consciousness? Just like Latrice and Filomena."

A fraction of her power... this was what it meant.

"Because she’s not complete, you and everyone else aren’t as well," Jackson added quietly as the truth was slowly coming together. The corner of his mouth curled up slightly. "That is why not only do you need to kill Michael, but you also want to take back what she had given me?"

"That is right." Marcus slowly stood up, having no problems telling everything Jackson the truth. He would still have to kill Jackson, anyway. "But if this matters, right now, even your son and her precious family and friends are dying one by one."

This time, the smile on Jackson’s face faded. "What did you say?"

"While you are in here, trying to take me down, Quentin is doing what should’ve happened a long time ago!" Marcus spread his arms wide and giggled. "Oh, Jackson. You truly are one pitiful man. From the day you were born and up until now, you are pitiful. A man born to die... pathetically."

Jackson’s eyes and mind went blank. Before he could even think, all he could see was red. In a blink of an eye, he vanished from his vantage point. Marcus quickly sensed the incoming attack, deflecting each that was launched with a millisecond gap.

This time, Jackson’s strength and agility were faster and stronger and it kept increasing at every assault. After countless attacks, Marcus was left with no choice but to defend himself. Slowly, Marcus found himself being pushed back without any opening for retaliation.

And after what seemed to be an eternity, a victor emerged from the short yet fierce battle between an immortal man and a real demon.

Marcus’s feet swayed several feet from the ground. He dug his nails into Jackson’s wrist, trying to get the upper hand again. But alas, despite the blood dripping from Jackson’s mangled wrist, his grip on Marcus’ neck tightened.

Gazing up at Marcus, Jackson didn’t even bat an eye, nor did he utter a word as he squeezed the man’s neck, breaking it with his bare hand.