Chapter 491: Leave

"Ryan!" Rachel screamed.

She took a step toward him but she could not lower the barrier.

If she did, the bullets would reach the boat instantly.

"I—I’ll get him!" Mei said.

She started to climb out of the boat.

Lucy grabbed her arm.

"No."

Mei spun toward her.

"Let me go!"

"You’ll get caught," Lucy said, her voice firm. "And then you’ll be useless to him."

Mei’s eyes widened.

"What are we supposed to do, then?"

Lucy did not answer immediately.

Her attention remained fixed on Ryan.

Then she reached down and pulled a long weapon from the boat.

The Starakian rifle.

The Resonance Disruptor.

Ryan raised his head slowly.

Gaspar stood in front of him.

He was no longer entirely human.

Yellow plasma shifted across his skin like living armor. Dark veins of energy moved beneath it. His body looked larger than before, his posture more twisted, and when he spoke, his voice carried a second tone beneath his own.

The Ravager was close to taking control.

"You really thought you could escape that easily?" Gaspar asked.

Ryan wiped blood from the corner of his mouth.

His gray eyes narrowed.

He did not answer.

Instead, he glanced toward the boat.

Lucy had lifted the Resonance Disruptor.

For the briefest moment, their eyes met.

Ryan understood.

Then he pushed himself to his feet and rushed forward.

Gaspar laughed.

"That’s the spirit!"

He charged toward Ryan at the same time.

BOOOOM!

They collided.

Green wind and yellow plasma exploded outward from the impact, tearing through the grass and shaking the nearby trees. Ryan’s wind blades tore against the surface of Gaspar’s Symbiote armor while Gaspar’s plasma tentacles lashed violently around them.

But Gaspar was faster.

The Ravager’s power moved through him with brutal speed, sending tentacles from every direction. Ryan dodged what he could, twisting away from strikes that would have crushed or pierced him.

One tentacle came from his right.

Ryan’s left eye glowed green.

For an instant, he seized the movement of the plasma appendage and redirected it away from his side. Another rushed toward him, and Ryan used the same power to force it downward.

But taking control of Gaspar’s movements was difficult.

The Ravager resisted him.

It was too powerful.

Ryan swung his axe.

Wind blades curled around the weapon, turning each slash into a burst of compressed air. He cut through one tentacle, then another, forcing Gaspar back for several steps.

But it was not enough.

Gaspar kept coming.

At the boat, Rachel’s breathing became ragged.

Her barrier flashed.

The red surface rippled under another wave of bullets.

"I..."

She swallowed hard.

"I can’t hold it much longer...."

Blood began to trickle from her nose.

Her vision blurred.

Rachel’s knees threatened to buckle, but she forced her arms to remain raised.

Mei looked at her in alarm.

Then she looked toward Lucy.

She did not even have to speak.

Lucy had already taken aim.

Mei’s eyes widened when she saw the weapon properly.

The Resonance Disruptor was different from an ordinary rifle. Its long frame carried a faint blue glow, and the energy gathering at its barrel made the air around it vibrate.

"Move back," Lucy said.

Mei obeyed immediately.

Tommy pulled Emily farther down inside the boat, placing himself between her and the shore while keeping one hand near the controls.

The Ravager seemed to sense the weapon too.

Gaspar’s smile vanished.

His Symbiote shifted uneasily.

The Ravager’s instincts recognized the danger of Starakian resonance technology. The weapon had been built to disrupt and weaken Symbiotes, and even the smallest mistake could leave one exposed.

Ryan saw Gaspar hesitate.

That was all he needed.

He reached down, grabbed Gaspar’s ankle, and pulled hard.

Gaspar lost his balance.

Ryan slammed him into the ground.

The impact shook the dirt beneath them.

Gaspar grunted and twisted violently, then kicked Ryan away with enough force to send him sliding across the ground.

He immediately turned toward Lucy.

Ravager surged forward.

Yellow plasma covered Gaspar’s body completely.

He grew taller.

His frame widened.

Huge arms formed from writhing yellow mass, his chest becoming broader and heavier as the Symbiote took more control. His eyes became a piercing white-yellow, unnatural and hungry.

"GRAAAHHH!"

Ravager roared.

Lucy fired.

A bright blue ray burst from the Resonance Disruptor.

It crossed the distance at terrifying speed.

Ravager immediately raised one enormous arm.

Yellow plasma gathered into a massive shield.

BOOOOM!

The blue ray struck the shield.

The plasma barrier held for only a fraction of a second.

Then it tore apart.

The force ripped through the Ravager’s right arm, blasting away a large part of its plasma mass. A violent soundwave followed the ray, spreading across the shore and shaking the ground.

The Ravager screamed.

Its entire body convulsed.

The yellow plasma coating began to writhe uncontrollably, pulling back from Gaspar’s body in places and exposing him beneath it.

Gaspar appeared inside the shifting mass.

He screamed as he clutched his head.

Blood trickled from one eye.

The Resonance Disruptor was tearing through the connection between him and Ravager.

But Gaspar was not the only one suffering.

Ryan lay on the ground nearby.

The resonance wave had struck him too.

Unlike Gaspar, he had not been protected by a thick plasma shell.

Pain tore through him as he writhed on the ground.

"Arghhhhh!!!!"

He coughed violently.

Blood spilled onto the dirt beneath him.

"Ryan!"

Rachel’s scream reached him through the ringing in his ears.

His hearing had become distant.

Muffled.

His gray eyes were blurred as he tried to focus on the boat.

He could see Rachel barely standing at the front, her hands still raised. The red barrier was flickering badly now. It was no longer solid. Bullet impacts caused cracks of red light to spread across its surface.

He could see Mei.

Tommy.

Lucy.

Keith and Emily inside the boat.

They were close.

Only a few more seconds.

Ryan forced himself onto his knees.

Gaspar was still recovering from the Resonance Disruptor.

Ryan had to use this moment.

He pushed himself forward.

Once.

Then again.

He stumbled and fell.

He forced himself up again.

The boat was only thirty feet away.

He could make it.

He had to make it.

Then his legs gave out.

Ryan collapsed onto one knee and coughed up more blood.

The pain in his body was overwhelming.

It felt like his eardrums had shattered.

"Ryan!"

Mei screamed.

She tried to jump out of the boat.

Lucy caught her shoulder.

Mei fought against her grip.

"Let me go!"

But Lucy did not release her.

Her eyes were fixed behind Ryan.

Gaspar was standing again.

The yellow plasma had reformed around part of his body. His right arm was damaged, his face was twisted with pain, but he was still moving.

Ryan sensed him behind him.

He did not turn around.

He looked at the boat.

At Mei.

At Rachel.

His lips moved.

"L...Leave."

Mei shook her head slowly.

"Nooo!" Rachel shouted.

Ryan’s voice was weak, but he forced it louder.

"Rachel!!!"

Rachel froze.

Ryan had never shouted at her like that.

His expression was desperate and pleading.

She stood at the edge of the boat with tears running down her face, still holding the barrier up with trembling hands.

She wanted to run to him.

She wanted to lower the shield.

But she knew what would happen.

The bullets would tear through the boat.

Keith, unconscious Emily, Tommy, Mei, Lucy, everyone would be exposed.

Ryan slowly turned his gaze toward Lucy.

He trusted her.

He trusted that she would understand what he was asking.

"GOOO!!!"

Lucy stared at him.

For a moment, her grip on the rifle tightened.

Then she nodded.

"W...Wait!" Mei cried.

She struggled against Lucy’s hold.

"You can’t leave him behind!!!"

Tommy moved behind her and wrapped his arms around her to keep her from jumping out.

Mei fought him.

"Let me go!"

Tommy’s face was twisted with pain.

He looked toward Ryan.

He did not want to leave him either but he understood.

Ryan was buying them time.

If they stayed, everyone would be captured.

Ryan looked at Tommy.

Even through the blood and pain, he managed a faint smile.

A wordless thank you.

Mei saw it.

Her expression broke.

"W...wait, RYANN!!!"

"Nghhh!!"

Gaspar’s foot struck Ryan from behind.

Ryan was thrown forward across the dirt.

Mei screamed.

The motorboat engine roared to life.

Lucy took control of the steering wheel.

The boat pulled away from the shore.

Farther and farther.

Mei continued struggling against Tommy’s grip, tears streaming down her face as she watched Ryan become smaller in the darkness.

Men rushed toward him from every side.

Gunfire began to fade behind them as the distance grew.

Rachel sat near the front of the boat, barely keeping her hands raised.

Her barrier weakened with every second.

Her face was pale.

Tears ran silently down her cheeks.

She stared back toward the shore.

Toward the distant figure of Ryan, surrounded by Gaspar and Brigantine’s men.

"R...Ryan..."