CHAPTER 178: CHAPTER 178: RILEY VS. SIZE SHIFTER

"Did... he just break that man’s leg? He—Oh, my god! He broke his arm too!"

The total number of students of Mega Academy, from freshmen all the way to those who were one inch away from graduating, was around a hundred thousand, since it was the only Mega Academy in the Americas region.

That might seem like a lot, and it was a lot. But with Mega Academy being a city itself, it didn’t actually look like that at all. The dorms were like apartments, and there were several buildings that weren’t close to each other at all.

Some preferred their dorms closer to the mall or to the Academy’s entertainment district. In short, even with their number, the students would actually rarely randomly interact with each other outside the establishments.

Riley, however, decided to take the fake Darkday and land directly in the middle of the Academy’s most populated establishment.

The waterpark resort.

He was standing above the water, and the ripples he created on its surface reached the edges as he broke the fake’s leg and arm in half.

He broke them without any hesitation in front of more than a hundred people.

The fake screamed, his howls of pain causing the showers of water raining down everywhere to stop in the air.

"Oh?" Riley tilted his head, his eyes reflecting the suspended droplets of water around him. "I suppose you would have telekinesis as your ability, no? It only makes sense since you are impersonating Darkday."

The fake wanted to say something, but Riley ever-so-slightly moved his broken arm, causing the fractured bones to slowly pierce through his flesh. Fortunately for those who were in the water, the fake’s blood didn’t drip into the pool at all. The blood stayed on the surface of the water as if it were a floor.

"Isn’t that... Riley Ross?"

And quickly, the patrons of the resort recognized Riley. There was only a single student in the entire school who looked like him, after all. It didn’t help at all that he was actually the second-most popular student in the Academy, second only to Hera, due to the upcoming fantasy TV series.

In short, everyone knew him. And everyone saw him mercilessly hurt someone. It didn’t help at all that the man’s face was already mangled. The people slowly turned their attention to the fake Darkday, wondering who it was.

And from the dark full suit he was wearing, a few of them actually made the "connection".

"Is that... Darkday?!"

"What?! Darkday is in the school?!"

"Oh, shit! He really did come here?! Is Riley his target?!"

"Wait, so... doesn’t that mean Riley’s stronger than Darkday?!"

The fear of the students lasted approximately half a second before quickly turning into amusement. They all looked at each other, and a small smile crept onto their faces.

"Go, Riley! Kill that little bitch!"

"Oh, shit. Oh shit! Where’s my laptop?! I need to take a video of this!"

The students started swimming out of the pool, not out of fear, but of wanting to see what was going to happen more clearly. And it was a ridiculous scene, since the students didn’t really have their phones, and their laptops were their only gadgets; it was what they were using to capture the moment.

Some of them even went live and let the entire campus witness what they were seeing.

And the title of their video?

Riley vs. Darkday.

No one even thought of helping. Well, not like anyone would blame them—because who actually needed help in this scenario?

Riley also noticed them looking, and a sigh escaped his lips.

"This is not Darkday," he said with a shake of his head. "He is a fake, everyone."

"Ooh..."

Everyone nodded their heads, but no one really cared. Riley sighed once again, gently lifting his hand and letting the fake Darkday float in front of him.

"Why are you so weak?" he asked the half-unconscious young man. "I have to say, whoever Darkday truly is, he would be offended by being impersonated by someone like you, Fake."

The young man groaned; that was the only thing he could do at this point since his entire face hurt.

"I suppose this is it," Riley sighed again, shaking his head as he turned the man around. He grabbed the man by his wrists, causing him to scream again. But Riley didn’t care. He glanced at one of the showers scattered around the pool, and then let it fly toward them—the hard aluminum, bending and looping around the man’s wrists.

"Hup!"

Before it could actually tighten, however, a woman suddenly popped up out of nowhere between Riley and the fake.

"Oh?" Riley’s eyes widened in surprise as the woman kicked both her and the fake at the same time, putting space between them before disappearing again... and then appearing behind the fake and removing the cuffs from his wrists.

The two fell into the water without Riley’s telekinesis holding them. And since the water wasn’t that deep, the woman dragged the fake toward the edge of the pool. She was going to lift him up, but stopped when she heard him scream in pain due to his broken leg.

"You’re done," the woman said. "Stay here for now."

The woman turned around, glaring at Riley as she let out a large breath.

"Were you not supposed to be with Sister and the others?" Riley asked. "Is it possible you defeated them all?"

The woman didn’t answer. She only stared at Riley before slowly lowering herself into the water, causing a massive ripple to form as she disappeared beneath it. Riley didn’t really heed her at all and turned his attention back to the fake Darkday, who was struggling to get up from the pool.

Riley casually stepped forward, and when the ripple his feet made reached the fake Darkday, the man gasped and once again turned around.

"Stay—"

"Kh!"

Before he could finish his words, however, Riley stopped in his tracks and fell into the pool. He grabbed his head, and a tiny wince painted his face. He gritted his teeth, his hands trembling as he slowly removed them from his ears.

He shook his head, and then the woman popped up right beside him in the water and pulled him down.

He pushed the woman away, lifting her up in the air... before she once again disappeared, only to reappear right above him, her feet already slamming on top of his head.

She then grew smaller, into the size of a football, as she stayed on top of Riley’s head. She grabbed his hair, somersaulting on the back of his head before growing bigger again and then palming both of Riley’s ears and completely discombobulating him.

He didn’t give Riley a chance to use his ability on her at all, and she pushed him into the deeper parts of the pool before disappearing, only to appear a few seconds later in front of the fake Darkday to help him up.

The students who were watching all took several steps back to make space instead of stopping them. The two were talking with each other, but the students couldn’t understand them at all as they were speaking in a different language, and from how they were speaking, they were clearly Russians.

And of course, Riley heard them too, as his head was already out of the water. He stared at the two of the, before turning around and casually using the pool’s steps to get out of the pool while still keeping his eyes on them.

"You are really good. What is your name?" Riley asked, tilting his head to the side as he stared at the woman. He waited for her to respond, and when she didn’t—

"Hmm... ty i vpravdu khorosh. Kak tebya zovut?" he spoke their language.

The woman stared at him, and then sighed as she stepped in front of the fake Darkday.

"Go away, Riley Ross," she said. "We’re not after you."

"Perhaps." Riley shrugged. "But you are after someone from my crew, correct?"

"We are not—"

"Silvie Savelievna, no?" Riley smiled.

"Hmm..." The woman’s face turned stoic. She glanced to the side for a moment and then turned her focus back to him.

"Change of plans. You’re coming with us, too."