Chapter 10 -:10 Holy Sword
"Intimately." Shirou scoffed, unable to help the wry smirk that adorned his features "It's the Strongest Holy Sword, entrusted to King Arthur by the Lady of the Lake." he recited, as if challenging the man to contradict him, "It was later returned to her hand by Sir Bedivere following the King's fall at Camlann."
"That's the official version, yes." Azazel confirmed, neither reacting to the Faker's challenge nor denying a word of it "The truth of the matter, however, is that during the battle with Mordred, Excalibur was destroyed."
Shirou grimaced but said nothing, his fists clenching as he stared down at the shards of Rapidly on the table before them. If he hadn't gazed upon the Holy Sword, hadn't glimpsed its history when it was recorded into his Inner World, he probably would've denied Azazel's words with the same intensity with which he'd rejected the world when Ilya had died before his eyes.
"Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on who you ask, the Church managed to recover the fragments, and through trial, error & the use of Alchemy, managed to reforged them into Seven Lesser Holy Swords, which were distributed among the three main branches of Christianity." Azazel continued "However, it takes a rare kind of individual to wield a True Holy Sword. Even reduced as they were, without someone capable of wielding them, the Seven Excaliburs may as well have been glorified paperweights as far as the Church was concerned."
"I'm guessing that was the basis behind the Holy Sword Program?" Shirou deduced, his eyes ochre narrowing in confirmation as Azazel actually scowled, as if he'd recalled something distasteful.
"That was the premise by which it was founded, yes." The man muttered, his expression grim as he emptied his glass and poured another shot "The Project Director, Archbishop Valper Galilei, had always been obsessed with Holy Swords, Excalibur in particular, so when he learned the truth of what happened to the blade, he was equal parts distraught & delighted." He chuckled at Shirou's look of disbelief "I know, right? Who in their right mind would consider Excalibur's destruction a good thing? Thing is, when he learned of the new blades, Valper secretly hoped one of them would choose him as its new wielder."
"I'm guessing that wasn't the case." Shirou deadpanned, earning a snort from Azazel, the Faker honestly more sickened at the thought of such a man being deemed 'worthy' of wielding an Excalibur than he'd been watching Freed wield Rapidly.
"Nope!" Azazel agreed cheerfully, looking decidedly chipper for some reason Shirou couldn't explain, yet strangely felt he could relate to "He didn't take being rejected too well, though mind you even I'd be hurt if I was turned down seven times in rapid succession."
"Unfortunately, his depression did little to waylay his admiration for Excalibur and those deemed worthy of wielding one." Azazel muttered, his good humour vanishing as he stared into his cup "As time passed and the Church's search for those capable of wielding the new Excaliburs continued to turn up blanks, that admiration turned into an obsession, culminating in Valper, who had become an Archbishop by that point, proposing a plan to speed up the process. I won't go into the details, but the short version is that he experimented on those who showed some ability to wield lesser Holy Swords, in order to determine just what it was that made them able to do so."
"He sounds more like a Magus than a Priest..." Shirou muttered, having learned long ago from Kiritsugu and his interactions with Rin & Kirei just what kind of mind-set was needed for one to be considered a First Class Magus by the association. True Magi held few scruples, favouring an 'End Justifies The Means' approach, provided of course that said means didn't broach on research into Vampirism or expose the existence of Magecraft, and even that was only out of a desire to avoid confrontation with the Holy Church.
"Mm, well there's a thin line between 'Wisdom' and 'Insanity'..." Azazel mused, no doubt referring to the biblical definition of a Magi as Wise-Men "Sadly, as much as they'd like to claim he went mad, the truth is Valper was in complete control of his sensibilities when he decided to do away with his test subjects after his research failed to produce the desired results." He chugged back his drink with a sigh "Needless to say, he was excommunicated as a heretic by the Church."
"But not before making use of his research up to that point, right?" Shirou muttered, his expression grim as he held Azazel's gaze "I can't imagine any other reason that Freed would be able to even touch an Excalibur otherwise."
"Sharp as always." Azazel mused, nodding his head approvingly as he poured himself yet another drink "On the surface, Valper was denounced as 'The Genocidal Archbishop' and was forced to go into hiding to avoid being executed for his crimes." He set the glass aside "However, while they publicly denounce the incident as 'Heresy', the fact remained that Valper's research had greatly improved their understanding of the requirements necessary to wield a True Holy Sword, namely that the wielder's body contain a strong Light Attribute."
'Could he be referring to their Origin?' Shirou wondered, his features grim as he pooled over what little he knew on the subject. A person's Origin was the starting point that defines their existence and directs their actions throughout life, a driving force from within the Akashic Record, often referred to as a person's instinct.
Those who awaken their Origin, intentionally or otherwise, become almost unable to stray from it, and there were even those who believed a person's origin & death were related. While Kiritsugu hadn't been particularly religious, typically going through the motions in order to keep up appearances, he'd nonetheless drilled the importance of a person's origin into Shirou, in particular the effect it could have on a person's Magecraft, to the point even someone like Shirou, with his sup-par Magic Circuits, unusual Elemental Affinity & lack of talent could become a Magus.