Chapter 196: Divine Ranks Luna’s expression grew serious, the playful seduction vanishing entirely. What remained was pure divine authority tempered by genuine concern. "You are caught in the machinations of a Great One," she said simply. "I cannot speak "His" true name, such knowledge is forbidden even to beings of my rank, but "He" is one of only five Great Ones known to exist among all the Gods." Finn’s mask remained impassive, but his mind raced. That was the same existence whose gaze had killed thousands in the desert settlement. The being whose presence alone had made even his divinity feel like a candle before the sun. "To understand what that means for you," Luna continued, "you must first understand how Gods are ranked." 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂 She gestured, and moonlight coalesced into a shimmering diagram in the air between them, forming into four distinct tiers arranged vertically. "I am a Rank 3 Goddess. The scale runs from Rank 4 at the bottom to Rank 1 at the top." Her finger traced the highest tier. "Rank 1 Gods are existences like the Moon Mother who birthed me. Beings of such terrifying power that a single Rank 1 could face the combined assault of every lower-ranked God simultaneously and emerge victorious... comfortably." "A single mention of Their name, and Their attention would lock onto you, just like a Great One..." Luna said. Finn frowned. Such a dramatic difference between ranks meant Rank 1 Gods were in a league of their own. Entities beyond comprehension. The thought made Finn much more wary of the Moon Mother. Someone like that had decided to ally with him? For what? If anything, Luna’s words had just made him much more disinclined to the idea of allying than he already was. Besides that, another thing stood out to him. The ranking standard for Gods. His thoughts immediately went to his Soul Register from the future. The divine essence he’d stolen from Garuda had displayed as "Rank 2 Divine Essence" with perfect clarity. His interface had always shown four ranks for divinity — Rank 1 as highest, and Rank 4 as lowest. That aligned perfectly with the ranking tiers Luna had just explained. But how was that possible? A Soul Register simply displayed information as a person’s soul understood it. His soul register shouldn’t have access to knowledge from this time period, and more specifically, this world. Was it a coincidence? His Error concept actualizing truths? His title as the Errant Heretic instinctually discerning the correct terms? Or maybe it was something else entirely? He filed the thought away. Luna was still speaking. "Rank 2 Gods include beings like the Shadow God, the Storm Goddess..." She paused, a slight frown crossing her features. "And the God of Secrets, though He is a terrible example. The last confirmed rank anyone assigned Him was Rank 2, but His existence is so enigmatic that certainty is impossible. Some Gods place Him at Rank 1 simply because of how utterly impossible He is to find, track, or kill." Her voice dropped lower. "There are even whispers... mad whispers, mind you, that since no one has successfully located Him for eons, He may be approaching peak Rank 1. After all, He once escaped the coordinated assault of five Rank 2 Gods and the eventual arrival of a Rank 1 God as well." A funny look crossed Luna’s face. "This Rank 1 is a God who already has His eyes on you," she paused. "...The Radiant One." Finn sucked in a sharp breath. The Radiant One was a Rank 1 God?! He was thinking of being careful around anything to do with Rank 1 divine entities, yet he’d offended one already? His Hallowed Domain pulsed violently as his mind conjured the memory of Solarius’s final moments, the divine Champion’s desperate attempt to summon his God as a vessel. There was no repairing that. All he could do now was keep off the Radiant One’s radar? Hold on... Didn’t Luna say Rank 1 Gods could tell when Their names were spoken?! What is she playing at? His eyes narrowed behind his mask and a trace of suspicion and wariness flickered within them. But Luna noticed his reaction and raised a hand. "You need not worry about speaking His name. Not just Rank 1 Gods, but all ranks of Gods can sense when mortals invoke them. The differing factor is the specificity of that feedback varies dramatically based on both the speaker’s divine rank and the God’s rank." She smiled faintly. "The Radiant One would not be able to identify me as the speaker. He might not even register the invocation at all. My divinity and Hallowed Domain as a Rank 3 God prevents that near-entirely." "For you, though... that’s a different story," she added with a chuckle. Finn absorbed that information and filed it away carefully, adding it to his meagre repository of God-knowledge. Luna’s expression sobered, then she returned to her main point. "But still, all of this... the entire ranking system, every God from Rank 4 to Rank 1... exist within a box. And the Great Ones stand outside that box entirely." The moonlight diagram shifted. A fifth position appeared above Rank 1, but it was separated by a vast gulf that the light struggled to represent. "The Great Ones have touched the core essence of all-encompassing existence itself," Luna said quietly. "’They’ have transcended the limitations that bind even Rank 1 Gods. ’They’ have no worries, no goals, no desires. Worlds can end and ’They’ remain unmoved. Unlike every other God, even at Rank 1, ’They’ are not bound by faith or belief. If every worshipper died, if every plane collapsed into nothing, ’They’ would persist and thrive regardless." She looked directly at Finn, and her voice carried weight that made his domain shudder. "For such an entity to then make a conscious move on our world is unheard of." Silence stretched between them. "When the Great One acted," Luna continued, "the Rank 1 Gods noticed immediately. But even They couldn’t discern the purpose. Allowing beings from other planes into this world? Why? You Transcendents were weaker, lacked true divinity, wielded inferior mana instead of divine essence. What could possibly motivate a Great One to want you in this plane?" Her eyes glittered with something between curiosity and fear. "It became a dilemma among the Rank 1 Gods. Because a Great One never acts randomly. Every move carries purpose beyond mortal, or even divine comprehension. The more powerful Rank 1 Gods immediately conducted their own investigations. Made their own discoveries." She gestured at Finn. "And your presence here is the result of that." Finn’s jaw clenched behind his mask. "Nocturne and Thalassa... The Shadow God and Storm Goddess." "Indeed." Luna’s expression hardened. "They have only themselves to blame. Whether acting as pawns for some greater player or driven by their own greed for advancement, they obtained information about a game only Rank 1 Gods are qualified to play. And they paid the price for their presumption." She leaned forward slightly. "They colluded with the Transcendents from your world. Made agreements. Established conditions. Their primary goal was entering your world, the plane of Transcendents, with clauses that specifically prohibited killing you, the Mnemosyne, or the Order bearer. Someone wanted you three here. Alive."