In Annan's plan, competing for positions on the ranking was merely a means to an end. Their ultimate goal had always been the Divine Lord's wish. Every one of them sought to have the great Omniscient Weaver personally grant their desires.

Even the outlanders, Ashe, Iger, and Harvey, in their ignorance holding little respect for the Omniscient Weaver, did not dare to underestimate the weight of that wish.

Perhaps the Divine Lord did have limits, but in the eyes of mortals, these deities who ruled entire kingdoms were indistinguishable from omnipotent beings. Just as an ant, bound by the limits of its imagination, might only wish for a larger body or sweeter food, Ashe and the others lacked the breadth of vision to even conceive of a wish beyond the Divine Lord's capabilities.

They did understand that Divine Lords were merely a higher form of ascended sorcerers. Since...