CHAPTER 85 - [85]:KNIGHTS TEMPLAR

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"See these? They may be primitive, but they get the job done. For all the advantage of guns, it is their projectiles that leave much to be desired. Bullets are too small to hold anything of note. Even if you could inscribe them with holy energy, their mass is too insignificant to do anything besides wound," the man selected a bolt from the belt-tied quiver of another knight, "Now these," he held it up for them to see, "these are an entirely different story. You can imbue these with light energy very easily and they each have enough mass to hold a significant amount. Sure, they may not fly as fast as or be shot as many times as bullets, but what does that matter when only one is needed to kill?"

The former priest turned back to them.

"You do understand what I'm saying, don't you?" he waved the bolt in his hands like a lecturer would a stick, "You can try and come up here. We'll just have to make sure you fall back down."

The bolt was inserted back into its quiver and the warrior took his place back amongst his cohorts.

"These projectiles are the product of my genius. They are light-imbued. Capable of being mass produced. Those halberds back there," a few Templars slammed the hafts of the weapons against the floor in response, "they are the result of my brainchild as well. It is amazing what one can accomplish if one is properly funded."

"And how many lives did you take to make those weapons?" Kiba snarled. The fury on his face was barely contained.

"A few?" Valper shrugged, "Many? The number is unimportant. All that matters is the weapons were created successfully," the man's eyebrows rose a fraction over his spectacles, "And how did you know what the requirements for making these weapons are?"

The boy said nothing but continued to glare up. Valper watched him for a few seconds before his features lit up.

"Ah, I understand now. You were one of them," he nodded, pleased, "What a coincidence. I speak of failed experiments and now one appears right before my eyes. Yes... I remember you. Your name was Yuuto, wasn't it? Yuuto Kiba."

The sword-user grimaced. The grip on his weapons became so tight it was painful.

"I remember you. You had the most potential out of all the specimens. That was why you were the last to be tested," Kiba's eyes widened, "The procedures we created had to be perfected before we could use them on our most prized subjects. We had to constantly revise and recreate our steps, and we needed bodies for that. The others who did not have the same potential as you served ably in that regard. They were the guinea pigs for the guinea pigs, if you will," the priest sighed and shook his head sadly, "It is a shame the Church forced me to abandon the project so early. If I recall correctly, you were next in line for the examination table."

"My friends..." the devil choked out, "They died... so you could operate better on me?"

"We always save the best for last," Valper shrugged, "All the rest were trash or the equivalent of trash."

"You have no right to speak of them like that!"

"I have every right. They were mine. My test subjects!" anger flared across the man's face, "Do you know how long it took for me to collect all those specimens? The time it took to round all of you up!? You think we just gathered a bunch of people off the streets and threw them on tables!? No! Every experiment needs to have specimens carefully prepared! We had to go through a selection process! See if you were even compatible! That took patience and money and most importantly, time! Time I could have spent on other experiments!" Valper gestured wildly to the Templars that surrounded him, "And the Church has the gall to order me to shut down the entire project after all the pain and suffering I went through!? All that time wasted! Gone! Well, not anymore! I've affiliated myself with a faction that is far more farsighted when it comes to affairs like these!"

"The Knights Templar are one of the most extreme orders of the Church!" Xenovia spat, "They've been threatened with excommunication numerous times! And you choose to affiliate yourself with them!?"

"That's not exactly a detriment to someone who has already been excommunicated," the former priest leered, "And besides, it was so tiring having to deal with the archaic views of the main branch. Things like principles and ethics. What use are they in experiments? In the end, they just limit what you can achieve," Valper peered at them from over his glasses, "Did you know it was for those reasons that I was cast out of the Church? My own assistants, people I believed that were just as invested into research as I, ratted me out. All those experiments got to them in the end. Useless things such as morals swayed their minds and broke their will. I hear some of them even took their own lives after the project was scrapped. The guilt was too much for them to bear."

"That is because they were better people than you," Irina hissed.

"They were weaker people than I," the man shot back, "Time and time again I told them that these subjects were not to be considered human, but they did not listen. They grew attached to them, became friends with them. They put aside the glorious purpose that had been set before them just so they could keep a few pets! I could never understand such selfishness!"

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