CHAPTER 180: CHAPTER 180: USEFUL

"Oh... oh, my god!"

A loud screeching scream came from one of the students who happened to be closest to the commotion. How could she not scream when the fake Darkday’s brain matter and bits of his skull were rolling down from her eyelashes?

Still, that didn’t stop her from holding her laptop and pointing its camera at the horrible scene in front of her.

And it wasn’t only her. Although not as much as her, the others were covered in blood, too. But everyone had their eyes and cameras watching as Riley’s arms went limp. His arms let go of the fake Darkday, and then they both dropped to the ground at the same time.

"What... just happened?!"

"Is Riley Ross okay?!"

None of them knew.

With Riley’s face also completely covered in the fake’s blood and brain matter, they didn’t realize that he was profusely bleeding from his nose, eyes, and ears.

None of them knew that Nat was inside his skull and had turned his brain into mush.

None of them knew that Riley Ross...

...was dead.

It didn’t help at all that his head was moving around... because Nat was moving inside his skull.

"No... no!" she bellowed inside his head, swimming through Riley’s mushed brain before she reached the end of the tunnel and saw the light.

Of course, this tunnel was the canal of Riley’s ear. She stepped out of it, sliding down the lobe before turning herself bigger.

The students, the bystanders, all took several steps back as they saw Nat push Riley away, quickly holding the headless fake Darkday’s corpse in her arms. She was wailing something in Russian, but none of them could really understand her words.

They did, however, understand her anguish.

"Oh shit... Riley Ross killed someone. Fuck! Oh, shit. Wait, lemme... lemme get a better video."

"But why isn’t he moving?!"

"Why the fuck are all of you just watching?! Stop being a bunch of NPCs and grab that woman!"

The woman immediately stopped her tears when she heard that. She stood up, glaring at all the students around her. And from the coldness seeping out from her red eyes, she wasn’t thinking of anything nice anymore.

"Fuck the mission," she whispered, her lips trembling as she bared her teeth at the students. "All of you are dying here. Wh—"

"He’s alive!"

Nat was about to turn small, but someone from the crowd shouted and pointed in a particular direction—the direction where she kicked Riley away.

"Alive...?" Nat very slowly turned her head toward Riley, only to see him standing up on his feet. Well, not exactly. It was as if there were strings pulling him, and when his feet were fully planted back to the tiled floor, his head snapped upright.

"What...?" Nat stepped back, unknowingly holding her breath as she stared at Riley’s bloodied face. And then, she watched as his eyelids started squirming, and since she was the closest to him, she quickly realized what was happening.

His eyes were regenerating and forming back to their original state. And soon, he opened them.

His eyes were so clear, so clear that it felt like Nat could feel herself being sucked into a pair of endless skies.

It was a complete contrast with his bloodied face.

Something... was wrong.

Here was a twelve-year-old child who managed to defeat and kill her comrade while she was stopping him. She thought the peculiarity would stop there now that she had killed him, but no.

Why... was he standing and staring at her like nothing happened?

She was sure of it. She scrambled his brains from inside his skull—no one would’ve survived that. No one should survive that.

She was right, after all. The child standing in front of her wasn’t a child at all, but—

"Baba yaga," she whispered. She gasped after that, finally realizing she had been holding her breath. And in that instant, any thoughts of fighting or killing the students of Mega Academy faded in her mind.

She quickly crouched and rushed back to the headless fake Darkday, and then disappeared along with it.

And just right in time. A millisecond after she disappeared, a winged figure appeared from above—her sharp wings piercing the tiled floor she was just previously crouching on.

"Chieftain Amerika!" the students exclaimed. Chieftain Amerika didn’t heed them just yet, however, as she looked around the resort, her eyes scanning everything like a hawk.

"Tch," she clicked her tongue, sighing as her wings disappeared behind her back. She then gently leapt toward Riley, quickly checking on him to see if he was alright.

"Are you hurt anywhere, Mr. Riley?" She almost placed her hands on his shoulders, but refrained from doing so since she remembered that Riley didn’t like to be touched. She went around him instead, but Riley just stood there without a hint of expression on his face.

"Riley?" Chieftain Amerika raised a finger in front of his face, but Riley still didn’t react at all. It wasn’t until she snapped her fingers that Riley blinked and his eyebrows began to move. He briefly looked at Chieftain Amerika’s face first, then lowered his gaze and stared at his hands.

He was just strangling the fake Darkday in his arms just earlier, and now Chieftain Amerika was standing right in front of him.

He blinked a couple more times before finally opening his lips.

"How convenient that you are here after it is done, Chieftain Amerika," he said, tilting his head to the side while taking a step back. "I previously thought that you were the mole working for the Dark Millennium, but could it be you are working with the Russians too? Or, is it possible that they are the same entity?"

"...I’m not working for no one but this country," Chieftain Amerika replied, sighing while shaking her head with a smile. "Since you’re going on with this theory again, I’ll take it that you’re feeling fine?"

"I suppose so, Chieftain Amerika." Riley shrugged. He looked at his hands again and then shrugged. "I feel better now than when I woke up."

"Good. Then I’ll leave you."

"Where are you going, Chieftain Amerika? Should you not stay here to assess the situation and clean up the mess?"

"There’s a reason why I only just got here, or that none of the instructors or staff are here to come to your aid, Mr. Riley." Chieftain Amerika sighed. "It’s happening everywhere in the Academy."

"Everywhere?" Riley placed his hand on his chin. "I suppose they are doing this to cover the fact that their target is Megagirl, Chieftain Amerika."

"Mega...their target’s Ms. Savelievna?" Chieftain Amerika’s eyes widened, the creases on her forehead deepening. "They told you that?"

"You were not aware of that, Chieftain Amerika?" Riley blinked. "The Academy did not tell you?"

"No," Chieftain Amerika squinted. "Only the Headmaster and a select member of the staff know. I don’t suppose you know where Ms. Savelievna is?"

"She is with Sister and the Baby Crew in a club close to her, Chieftain Amerika," Riley said. "But you should know that if you were part of the infiltrators."

Chieftain Amerika could only sigh and chuckle at Riley’s words. Her wings then sprouted from her back.

"If she’s their target, then she’s the one who needs the most protection. I’ll go—"

"Chieftain Amerika, wait!"

Before the old hero could fly away, one of the students approached her; the student’s eyes glanced at Riley.

"Riley... Riley Ross killed someone! The... the man’s head exploded!"

"What...?" Chieftain Amerika held her breath as she glanced at Riley, her eyes softening while her brows furrowed. "No..."

Her wings returned to her back as she approached Riley again, even more gentle this time.

"Are you..." she whispered.

"Are you... okay? It’s... not your fault, Mr. Riley. You should come with me for now. And..."

Chieftain Amerika then glanced at the other students who had their laptops on.

"I want all of you to delete that footage. That goes for you, too."

"But..." The student who approached her gulped. "...I streamed it live, Ma’am."

"Ah, the spirits take me," Chieftain Amerika exclaimed, covering her face with his hand in frustration. She then turned her focus back to Riley, who just stood there like it wasn’t his problem at all.

"It... should be fine," she whispered before raising her voice. "All of you return to your dorms! It’s not safe here! Or better, you can make yourself useful by helping your instructors! And Riley, come with—Mr. Riley?"

Chieftain Amerika turned her focus back to Riley, only to see that he was no longer there.

She could only stand there in silence for a few moments, her eyes slowly closing while her head shook on its own.

"What... is happening in this world?"

And with those words, Chieftain Amerika caused a ripple to blast around her as she flew away. The others also soon started leaving the resort, bringing only their laptops with them.

Unbeknownst to all of them, however, Riley was actually still there.

In fact, he didn’t even leave his spot at all, no.

"Interesting."

He was there, between a small canyon.

Well, not exactly.

He was between the gaps of the tiled floor...

...as small as an ant.

"This would be very, very useful."