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"No" Kiba scowled before leaving in a huff.
Clearly his inability to easily destroy the blade was weighing heavily on his mind.
Issei's amusement at the situation faded once Kiba was gone since he needed answers, "Alright Rias, what's with Kiba and why does he hate Excalibur so much." Issei frowned.
Rias was stunned before looking at Irina, "You didn't tell him?" Rias said in shock.
"Tell me what" Issei glared at his childhood friend.
Irina winced before speaking up, "Kiba is the last surviving member of the Holy Sword Project, an off the books experiment run by a man named Valper Galiel. He took a large group of kids who were training in the church and gathered them together in a hidden location. While they were there Valper committed countless atrocities against these kids all to see if they could be trained to wield Excalibur. As you know, Holy Swords generally choose their owners and unless you're a natural it's impossible. Unfortunately for the kids none of them were able to successfully wield the blades and Valper killed them or at least that's what the reports say" Irina frowned.
"I see and where does Rias come into play." Issei wondered.
"I found Kiba in the woods on the brink of death. When I saw him all I could see was his rage and passion and I made him my servant. I didn't find out why he was in those woods until much later." Rias admitted.
Issei frowned but then his expression soured as he realized something, "Hey Irina do you happen to know where Valper is right now?"
"No, why do you ask?" Irina said nervously.
"Because there's a very good chance that Valper is Kokabiel's partner." Issei frowned. How that didn't occur to Irina or anybody else was beyond him.
Irina paused for a moment before her eyes widened, "Of course. Now I get it." Irina cursed. The fact she missed this was shameful but now she realized the truth.
"Get what?" Rias said curiously.
"Kokabiel's mysterious partner is Valper and his goal was getting the seven fragments for himself. Kokabiel could provide a person to use the blades and the means to get them while Valper would offer him a way to turn the blades into a new weapon. Someone interested in Excalibur to the degree that Valper was could surely fuse the broken pieces together." Irina explained.
"There's one little detail you're forgetting Irina." Issei chided.
"What's that" Irina asked in confusion.
"Like you said, Holy swords are extraordinarily picky and Excalibur is among the strongest. How could a worm like Freed ever be chosen by the blades?" Issei wondered.
Irina froze for a moment before her eyes widened, "You're not saying that he somehow did another project." Irina panicked.
"Perhaps" Issei frowned.
'Or perhaps his original experiment wasn't the failure everyone believed.' Issei thought to himself.
He wouldn't voice as much due to Kiba's situation but something was very wrong.
'What are you suggesting partner.' Ddraig wondered.
'I pray I'm wrong, but I don't think Valper killed those kids because his experiment failed. I think he killed them as part of the experiment.' Issei replied.
Kiba's ability with swords was most likely a side effect of the experiments done to him.
If that was the case, there was a chance that Valper's slaughter of Kiba's friends was his final attempt at getting what he needed to complete his experiment.
Considering Freed used one of the fragments, it was obvious that his experiment worked.
"Care to share your thoughts with the group Issei." Akeno teased breaking him from his musing.
Issei knew Akeno wouldn't take his news well but he had to keep this secret for now, "Not right now. It's a work in progress and bad information is worse than no information." Issei replied diplomatically.
"Alright" Rias sighed. This was a start, but until they knew more, they shouldn't be reckless.
(Scene Skip)
After the brief meeting with the Gremory group, Issei Irina and Xenovia teleported home ready to relax since they dealt such a major blow to Kokabiel's plans, "Well that ended up being more interesting than I thought." Issei groaned.
The news about Kiba's issues with Excalibur wasn't a pleasant one, but considering the circumstances it all worked out for the best.
If he had known about them, he would've probably gone to the first meeting but it was too late to worry about that.
"Speaking of which. You didn't say as much but you seemed to figure out something about Valper during the meeting." Irina said with a wry smile.
Issei groaned because Irina was as sharp as ever, at least when it came to him, "Well I figured out two things. The first is that Kiba's 'sacred gear' is actually a result of the experiments that Valper did on him."
"What!" Irina gasped and even Xenovia was slightly shocked.
"I think that even though they couldn't wield Excalibur, the experiments Valper did allowed the kids to gain a special control over Holy Swords."
"That doesn't explain why he killed them." Irina pointed out.
Issei's expression went cold, "That's the second thing I figured out. I think the reason he killed those kids, was actually the final piece of his experiment and not because his experiment failed."
Irina and Xenovia both paled at the thought, but Irina was curious what her childhood friend meant, "What makes you say that?"
"Kiba's ability is something he gained from the experiments so it stands to reason that the other kids had something akin to that happen to them." Issei replied.
"Yeah but how does that relate to the experiment." Xenovia wondered.
"It's Holy Factor!" Irina gasped causing Xenovia's eyes to widen as well.
"That's right" Issei frowned.
According to Irina's father, every human is born with a small fragment of power known as a Holy Factor.
This factor is basically a well of Holy energy and that those who wield Holy Swords can do so because of High Holy Factors.
"You think Valper killed the kids to get a hold of their strengthened Holy Factors in order to harness it." Irina assumed.
"Yeah. That also explains how Freed can use the Excalibur since I doubt a Holy Sword would willingly choose him" Issei continued.
"So should we tell Rias?" Irina wondered.
"No. If Kiba learns this he'll be out for blood. Right now we need to be smart." Issei said calmly.
"Right." Irina replied.
"But enough of that. Let's relax since we've had a good day." Issei said happily trying to change the subject away from this grim topic.
"See you later" Irina smiled before walking over to Issei and kissing him on the cheek.
"See ya" Issei smiled as Irina walked away with Xenovia not far behind.
If he had paid more attention to the bluenette he'd have noticed the look of longing on her face.
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Just add it to your library, send power stone and join my discord for more chapters.
[ Discord:-https://discord. gg/zPHaRCV8ax (without space) ]
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