In Annan's plan, competing for leaderboard rankings was merely a means to an end; their ultimate objective had always been the divine wish.
The great Omniscient Weaver would personally grant the wisher's desire.
Even outsiders like Yaxiu, Igola, and Harvey, who possessed little respect for the Omniscient Weaver, dared not treat the weight of such a wish lightly.
Perhaps gods surely had their limits, but to mortals like them, these gods who ruled over entire nations were practically indistinguishable from omnipotent beings. Just as an ant, exhausting the utmost limits of its imagination, could only wish for a bigger and stronger body or sweeter and tastier food, the limited knowledge and horizons of Yaxiu and the others could never conceive of a wish exceeding a god's capabilities.
Granted, they knew gods were merely higher forms of sorcerers who had undergone sublimation. And since multiple gods existed, different gods surely possessed different areas of focus and could not truly be all-knowing and all-powerful, just as sorcerers specialized in particular sorcery factions.
Yet even if a sorcerer mastered only a single sorcery faction, a single discipline could reflect myriad arts. Take what Yaxiu had mastered: Swordsmanship could slash away negative statuses (Severing Self), teleport (Rushing Toward), and provide defense (Sword Body Barrier). Yaxiu wouldn't even be surprised if Swordsmanship could eventually sever chemical bonds and unleash nuclear energy.
What was more, over endless years, even by sheer grinding, a god could master the vast majority of sorcery factions. The miracles and divine miracles at Their command were simply beyond mortal imagination. Rust Crow had spent so many years and so much effort just to resurrect one person, yet on the Time Continent, a god's resurrection service was offered to Heroic Spirit Commanders with clear price tags.
The most outrageous demand a mortal could muster would merely be something like "Make me a god too." But the Omniscient Weaver was not an artificial idiot like the Gospel. He would probably turn you into a "God Lalafell (a new breed of His creation)," granting your wish while simultaneously enriching the Gospel Country's cookbook.
However, a step lower—wishing to become an angel, resurrect someone, rule the Gospel, or obtain infinite Gospel points—would likely pose no problem. Therefore, obtaining the divine wish, even if unable to satisfy every conceivable desire, could at least resolve all their problems.
And the process for obtaining the divine wish in Annan's original plan was this: the outsiders from an outside domain would strive for as many rankings on future boards as possible, and the Echoer with the most rankings and highest weight would likely be granted priority for the divine wish.
This was also why Annan had refused to budge back then and insisted on signing slave contracts with them: without absolute control over them, if they ended up receiving the divine wish, Annan would have had no way of taking it back from their hands!
And now, the Echoer with the most rankings and the highest weight was none other than Annan herself!
No middlemen taking a cut!
Yaxiu exhaled a breath of turbid air and glanced at Lisi. "This works out for the best too."
Lisi's eyes flickered. She merely kept her head down, chewing on a roasted lamb chop without saying a word, but Yaxiu knew it was not that simple—he had not forgotten that on their very first night, Lisi had tried to conspire with him to seize the divine wish.
By now, Yaxiu naturally did not believe Lisi was merely a lost little girl picked up on a whim by the Four Pillar Cult. Although he doubted she could actually snatch the divine wish from them, the fewer complications they had, the better.
Moreover, his relationship with Annan had developed by leaps and bounds lately, so Yaxiu understood very well that Annan would never let it go. Meanwhile, as the embodiments of greed and madness, Igola and Harvey had long been itching to make a move.
Even Yaxiu himself found it hard to resist the temptation. Wandering displaced in an unfamiliar land, tossed about by an untethered fate, Yaxiu—who possessed nothing left to his name—did he not want to dream a happy dream just once?
Never test human nature, and even less should you test your own, lest you become the abyss, lest you become the evil dragon.
Right now, they could still work together in unison and enjoy dinner in harmonious cheer. Yet once the end drew near, however splendid their current cooperation was, that was how cruel their future betrayal would be.
This blasphemy that began with deception would inevitably end with deception as its final period.
Thus, hearing that Annan had secured the wish allocation, Yaxiu felt a pang of disappointment, but far more of relief.
If the spot had fallen into the hands of Yaxiu or the others, they might still have had a chance to resist. But with the spot in Annan's hands, Yaxiu and the rest had zero hope of seizing it—after all, they were still slaves who obeyed Annan one hundred percent.
Harvey used a piece of bread to wipe up the cream sauce on his plate and ate it, seemingly unconcerned that Annan had locked in her victory in advance. Igola's gaze lingered between Yaxiu and Lisi, his eyelids lowering in contemplation.
"If I truly manage to obtain the divine wish, I will honor our original promise and definitely help fulfill your desires," Annan said seriously. "Harvey, I will help you acquire the legacy of the Angel of Necromancy and provide you with ample resources."
"Igola, if you want money, I'll give it to you; if you want freedom, I'll give you that as well. On the day the contract ends, you may choose your own life."
"Yaxiu, Lisi," Annan looked toward them. "Trust me. I will make sure you attain happiness."
Yaxiu blinked—why did the lines suddenly get weird when it came to him and Lisi? Was she catering to Lisi's language level?
"I don't know if these thirty-odd days have been enough for you to see who I truly am, but I can only offer this guarantee with these feeble words: I will never let you down." The Purple Moth paused. "So long as I successfully claim the divine wish."
Igola picked up on the young miss's underlying implication. "Could you still have a competitor?"
"Assuming all future boards are nullified, then I am indeed the first-in-line Echoer," Annan said. "The problem is, the final leaderboard will never be nullified."
"Not only will it not be nullified, but the first place on this leaderboard was already decided before the Weaving Ceremony even began."
Having finished eating, Lisi came over again to act cute with Yaxiu. While wiping her mouth with a handkerchief, Yaxiu asked in confusion, "Even so, that's only one first place, whereas you have a 1st plus a 10th."
"What if I told you that across the past ten Weaving Ceremonies, the divine wish has always gone to that very first place?"
The outsiders were slightly taken aback. Igola caught on immediately: "This leaderboard holds the highest influential weight?"
Annan nodded. "Across the past ten Weaving Ceremonies, there have been the Legendary Board, the Combat Power Board, and even the Great Figures Board, but no matter which board's first place it was, none ever received the divine wish. At the same time, over so many iterations of the Weaving Ceremony, the first nine leaderboards have constantly shifted, yet only the final leaderboard has never changed—and the divine wish is only ever bestowed upon first place of that final leaderboard."
Yaxiu asked, "So what kind of leaderboard is it? The Omniscient Weaver's Illegitimate Children Board? Do we have a chance to squeeze onto it? ...What are you doing?"
Lisi gave Yaxiu's finger a gentle bite. When Yaxiu looked over, she averted her head. Thinking she was just being mischievous, Yaxiu didn't pay it much mind.
"It isn't an Illegitimate Children Board, but there's no way we could get on it either," Annan said. "Its name is simply the Gospel Board, and the requirement to make the list is—"
"Only the purest, most innocent, kindest, and most wonderful young maiden can be included on this board."
Everyone froze. Igola asked in disbelief, "Men aren't allowed?"
"There is no precedent for that," Annan said. "So now you know why none of you can make the board?"
"Because we aren't women?"
"No, if it were only a matter of gender, that wouldn't be impossible to overcome," Annan said, spreading her hands. "It's mainly that the Gospel has truly never seen an innocent Swindler, a pure necromancer, or a kind Demon Lord of Calamity."
Chapter 432