The ever-presence moved at Kiro at a tremendous speed that far outdid Karenia’s. It had long surpassed Karenia’s speed. Or maybe it was yet to move at its full speed until that moment. No one saw it coming. It went straight for Kiro, who was already expecting it. It was something he expected when he purposely made himself the focal point of the attack, but that was a secret he kept to himself.
“Jackpot,” Kiro said.
***
Moments before that incident, when Kiro first picked up Olivia’s energy when she went head-on to attack the ever-presence’s condensed energy beam, something happened. At the time, Kiro couldn’t see what was going on because of how large the blast was. But even amidst the inordinate amount of energy that the ever-presence emitted, he could clearly feel a frightening but fa
