Minutes passed by, and the atmosphere in heaven grew more and more tense. None of the gods wanted to come out and admit that they were the imposter.
Even the seven gods who were prime suspects weren't confessing.
[Let's save all our time, and whoever it is, come out and admit. It's not like we are going to punish you or anything. Each of us has our own mindset and perception. Otherwise, we would just be overlapping everyone here, so how about we just end all this,] the first god asserted in a calm voice.
[True. I agree with the first. We don't have time for fighting among ourselves,] the third seconded the first.
[Yeah. Even if it is one of us, we will forgive them,] the fifth stated.
[But who is it?] the seventh wondered.
[Can I ask why only seven of us are being seen as suspects?] the ninth asked.
[Yeah. It could be one of the other five too,] eleventh uttered while glaring at the other five.
[Agreed. I don't like how only seven of us are seen as a suspect when it could be any of us,] the 12th uttered.
[So… who is it?] second, asked.
[I don't mind being seen as a suspect if we can find out the real culprit,] the eighth said.
Even after 30 minutes, no one was ready to confess, and they made no progress.
[If we keep doing this, then thousands of years will pass. And we wouldn't find the imposter,] the sixth sighed.
[Let's do what we always do,] the tenth suggested. [Let's vote on who we think might be the imposter.]
[What will we do with the voting? Everyone is against each other now,] the third muttered.
[And what if we vote from someone and the real culprit turns out to be someone else?] the seventh wondered.
[True. We might not even find out if we branded someone as a culprit when they turned out to be innocent,] the first stated.
After pondering for a while, they voted not to vote.
[I can't believe we seriously decided on something and all of us agreed on it. This might be the first time in the heavens,] the first god laughed.
Suddenly, a long spear came and pierced the first god's body.
[…!]
Everyone was left baffled by the sudden happening.
[Who was it?!] the second yelled.
[Who dared to attack the god?!] the third yelled with the second.
[Don't worry…] the first pulled out the spear from his body and inspected it. He glanced around the remaining eleven gods and said, [I think I know who the culprit is.]
The first's wounds healed within a second after pulling out the spear.
[Who… is it…?] everyone asked at the same time.
[For us gods, weapons summoning or beast summoning is child's play. We can spite a realm by a single snap, but the heavens monitor each and every action. Just like how we have assigned angels to watch over the worlds, the higher gods have assigned supreme angels to watch over us. But obviously, they are too busy to care about this,] the first scoffed.
[Yeah,] the third nodded. [Otherwise, they would have already eliminated us from punishing the humans in such a crude way.]
[They warned us the last time we did something evil— that was to exile Aria and Erza. But they couldn't undo our decision since they had promised Aria and Erza that they would never interfere with their heavens and the world they created,] the seventh uttered in a solemn voice.
[Exactly. And since Aria and Erza had given us their powers and authorities, they couldn't oppose us either,] the fifth quipped.
[To be honest, if they wanted to bring Aria and Erza back, they could have done it long ago without caring for any lost promise. But they didn't. I wonder why?] the twelfth wondered.
[Because they are not as petty as us,] the ninth remarked.
[Enough!] The first said in a loud voice and continued, [Everyone. Get off your throne and walk down to the center. I am going to announce the culprit.]
All the gods and goddesses walked to the center of the hall and stood in a circle.
[…]
The atmosphere was tense since the first was about to declare the culprit who had been fooling them for over 80 thousand years.
[The imposter is…] The first glanced at everyone, and his gaze stopped at the sixth god.
[What…? It wasn't me…] the sixth stuttered.
Then, the first moved his gaze to the ninth.
[It wasn't me…]
Then, the first moved his gaze to the fifth and said, [It was you.]
[What?! Why would I do that?!] the fifth exclaimed. [I was against Aria and Erza exilation. And I was against punishing humans too!]
[Exactly…] the first frowned his face and said, [This is why… it has to be you.]
[You are lying!] The fifth glanced at everyone and said, [He is lying! He is trying to fool us all! He is the imposter!]
[…]
[…]
[All of us know that the first is the oldest and the first god Erza created. The second goddess was created 100 years later by Aria,] the twelfth muttered.
[Yeah. We believe the first and his words,] the eleventh nodded.
[He has brainwashed you all! Snap out of it!] the fifth yelled. Then, he turned to second, fourth, and sixth, and said, [You all trust me, right?!]
The fourth looked into the first eyes and asked, [Do you have any proof that the fifth is the one who did it?]
SIGH!
The first sighed in disbelief and muttered, [I never thought there would be a day when my fellow gods would doubt my words.]
He looked at the fifth and said, [Just admit it. No need to drag things out.]
[I am innocent!] the fifth yelled.
[I didn't want to do this, but I guess I have no other choice…].
The first broke the spear into two and speared it with his divine powers.
Soon, the spear turned into ashes and flew away. But, the ashes changed into the shape of an arrow, and it was pointed towards the fifth.
[…!]
The first shrugged his shoulders and said with a smile on his face: [Here is your proof.]
===
Author's Note – Did anyone guess it right?