Episode 22: It's a game

Caleb slams his fist once more on the railing furiously. "See, this is why I hate that guy he constantly ignores the rules. You can't make it impossible to pass an exam test."

Sable chuckles and crosses his arms. "Well, its not impossible to win."

Caleb turns to Sable, so mad that a vein protruded from his forehead. "How is this winnable?"

Sable glances at Caleb with a slight smirk. "As grand inquisitor, I am obligated to take any challengers who want the title of the strongest inquisitor. Over the years, there has only been one knight who challenges me any chance they get. Over the fifteen years I have been grand inquisitor, King has challenged me to 284 of his games."

Caleb sighs as if to release the building pressure. "I know out of the white knights the only one foolish enough to challenge your spot has been that freak. What's that have to do with it, though? Those applicants are fresh miracle users while you carry the title of strongest."

Sable gives a long, exaggerated blink. "Miracles have nothing to do with his games."

Caleb, confused, shakes his head. "I wish you'd just give me a straight answer for once."

The crowd stair confused at the field. Sweat runs down Ryan's head as he stands by the medical tent. "Whats going on?"

King and team 2 stood on the field motionless, eyes glowing white.

Alme clinches his fist as he thinks. 'We don't have much time left, and we are back to square one. What's worse is I think we only get one more chance to find out who the impostor is.'

The two figures in front of Alme both raise their hands. "I'm Oscar!"

The figure on the right turns to the opposite figure, stunned. "So you're the imposter, you bastard!"

The figure on the left pointed to the figure on the right. "Nice try, you freak. You're the imposter."

Alme stood baffled as his thoughts raced. 'Which one is the imposter? I can't even ask them questions. I don't know Oscar that well. He was just a resource I was using to achieve my goal. It's so disorienting playing this game with strangers.' Alme reaches for his blade that he had hidden by calve. 'The easiest thing to do would be to kill them all and move on without teammates.'

Before he could reach his blade, memories started flooding his mind.

My earliest memory was a corpse laid upon a wooden floor and a knife in my small hands. A firm hand grabbed my shoulder. It was the hand of my father who looked prouder than he ever had. "Good job, son."

Confused, I asked my dad why mom wasn't getting up. He looked over at her body with disdain. "Because she fulfilled her finally purpose."

"Purpose?" I said with childish innocence. He smirked gently at me. "Yes, son. Her first purpose was to give me a strong heir to my vengeance. Her second was to raise that heir with love and care until he was at the appropriate age for training. Her final purpose was to be slain by that heir so that you would have no more earthly attachments."

I looked back at my mother's lifeless body then back to my father asking if she would ever get up again. He rubbed my head softly. "Yes, son, she's gone to heaven, so you'll be with her again one day. Till then, you and I will go on a trip."

The thing about innocence is that it's a double-edge sword. It can create an angle who is curious about the adventure of life, or a monster who feels nothing when they have done horrible unspeakable deeds. After we left our family house, I was trained in the art of assassination every day. He trained me to kill one type of person specifically, Miracle users. I learned that his real true love was killed by one, an infamous one at that, when he was younger. He had trained every day to kill this man. My father knew that he could never fight a miracle user head on so he trained as an assassin. After years of slaying miracle users he had never found the man who kill the love of his life. This is the reason I was born so that I can carry on the mission and bring this miracle user to the blade. All of that changed when during a difficult mission I myself awoke to a miracle. He told me that all miracle users needed to die, and that I was a blight on his bloodline. I was shunned and left to do freelance work which lead me to the one person I look up to most in this world.

I had followed him to a dark alley, waiting for the opportunity to strike. He turned to me with a cocky smile on his face. "So, kid, you're the one I was looking for."

His words stunned me as I thought. 'He was looking for me?' I tried to regain my composure drawing from my training. "I am death incarnate, and I have come to send you to god."

The man laughed uncontrollably. I was used to targets laughing at me and underestimating me before they died so I paid little mind to it. Yet the look he had in his eyes showed more than just confidence. It showed strength. That man was Bishop Sable.

Alme's hand retracts from his blade as he regains his composure.

He tries to assess the situation as he thought. 'Calm down, Alme. Killing everyone won't lead me to redemption. Something very weird is going on. Why didn't Oscar's miracle work last time? Why can't I even tell the difference in attitude between the two? It's almost like they are the same person.' As the thought ran across Alme's mind, he came to a realization. "So that's it, huh?"

The two arguing figures look to Alme before the figure on the right speaks up. "What? You figured out that I'm the genuine Oscar?"

Alme shakes his head confidently. "No, but I know a way of figuring out which one of you is the real Oscar." Both of the figures fall silent. "Only the real Oscar knows this. What was my mom's name?"

The figure on the left speaks up quickly. "Your mom's name was Alice!"

The figure on the right stood stunned. "No, wait, I knew that, too. Ask another one, I'll know it."

Alme chuckled softly. "No need. I know which one of you is the impostor."

The figure on the right exclaimed. "Wait, seriously, I knew that give me another chance. The exam is at stake here."

Alme shook his head again. "No, you are the impostor."

The figure on the left jumps and cheers. "I knew you'd know I was the real deal Alme."

Alme stairs daggers at the figure on the left. "Not so fast, pal, I'm not done." Alme points his finger to the figure on the left. "You are also the imposter!"

The figures both stand stunned. The figure on the right scratches his head. "How are we both the imposter?"

Alme smirked while crossing his arms. "Simple, I never knew my mom's name, nor have I ever mentioned my mom to Oscar. Yet you knew her name and you never flinched to jump at the chance to say you knew."

The figure on the right laughed as the figure on the left clapped his hands before they both spoke in synch. "CONGRATS YOU ACTUCALLY FIGERED IT OUT!!!!"

Team 2 blink their eyes and awakened unmoved from the spot they started at before the exam began. Oscar frantic looks to the clock. "Why did you end the exam? We still had time to find the imposter."

Maria nods in agreement. "We almost found the imposter so why stop?"

King laughs uncontrollably. "You guys sucked at the game the only one who found the imposter was Alme."

Oscar jumped back, confused. "What do you mean?"

Alme interjected. "The game was in our heads. Every one besides yourself was the imposter."

Oscar nods slowly. "I was... close.. ish to figuring that out."

King looks at Alme with determined eyes. "Stay alive throughout your career kid. You might one day be as fun to play with as Sable."

Alme couldn't contain his smile. "No, one day I'm going to be even better than Sable."

Sable's voice rings throughout the stadium. "What's the verdict, Knight King?"

King smiles from ear to ear at Sable. "Team 2 passes!"