"Ranks does not confer privilege or give power, it imposes responsibility."

-Peter Drucker

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"Verbal agreement?"

In complete contrast to what I believed, hearing that term suddenly rolled up drums of revelations in my head, while Shiro is continuously playing with the pegasus on the background looking very happy and satisfied.

"Fortunately, yes. That drivel that Hermes talked about earlier in the presence of everyone is nothing but a verbal agreement, one that you must not be compelled of following.", the goddess, wearing a cerise bathrobe replied.

"So, do you mean that the 'Disqualification by Death' is also part of the drivel?"

"Oh, that? It's true." I figured.

"Yep. So everything is not entirely false right?"

"Correct."

"But that thing with the 'You-have-to-hastily-choose-the-Armada-you-want-to-join'. is just an aftermath of that deity's deranged personality. You can totally ignore it", Lacrimosa extrapolated, making the point clear beyond ambiguity.

"Wait. If you have said that Hermes is also in the process of making such a choice, does that also mean that he is a participant of the game?"

"Yes! It should have been obvious. Did you bump your head or something? I already told you. Not one of us is exempted. Whether we want it or not. Armada or no armada. We have to take part in it. It's an order from the highest. An order that I, nor Hermes can deny. Hermes was just unlucky this time for being chosen to be the Magistrates' personal mail boy."

Hearing that is like a table-turner for me. I thought that this Goddess never turns herself to any form of authority, but I guess that 'highest' she just pertained to is an exemption.

"R-right." So I guess, Hermes was also a subject of what he said earlier. He simply just got a task added on his tab as he was chosen randomly to be the emcee on the warfare's opening ceremony. I wonder what the Herrscher of Hermes looks like? Yet, the question of whether who or what this Highest is, still boggles my mind.

" If I may ask you. Is this 'Highest' you're talking about, 'Zeus'?"

"Zeus?"

"Uhm. He was always portrayed to be someone who takes hold of the highest position in ancient Greek literature. Hermes is also there too, and I figured that Zeus is this 'overpowered' being, that you are all subject to follow."

"Zeus? Do you mean that womanizer? That God who shoots cute thunderbolts?HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHA. You're kidding me."

"So it's not him?"

"Oh certainly. Zeus is just well-known for his ability to capture the hearts of CHEAP girls, goddesses or humans they may be. There's no way I'm submitting myself to such a brazen figure."

Calling Zeus's thunderbolts 'cute' was just beyond what I could imagine. Why was he portrayed to be that powerful anyway? Well, maybe he is overpowered, in the eyes of that ancient playwright perhaps.

"So who's this 'Highest' that you're saying?"

"Hmmm. Truth is, I also don't know."

"Eh?"

"Yes. Unfortunately, we are not allowed to see him. No, It's more like, we SHOULD not see him. You're not the only ones that are governed by a system you know? And as I am kind...and also gracious, I'm gonna show you the rank hierarchy of deities to give you an insight as to where I am now and the significant gap of every deity on the power closure to the highest..."

As she said that, suddenly on the air, dark fiery symbols from the English Alphabet began to arrange themselves in vigor to show data at least. And this is the result which was shown in a descending pattern, divided into three major definitions...

[Lesser Deities]

VII. Spirit Deities

VI. Quasi-Deities

V. Relic Wardens

IV. Mythic Deities

III. Archangels

[Higher Deities:]

II. Magistrates

[Creation Deities:]

I. Primordial

0. Highest

"It's rather simple, isn't it? Even the worldly military ranks are a hundred times more intricate than this. "

"Sorry, what is this again?" I asked. While it is clear to me that this is some sort of a ranking system that incorporates the deities, what I don't quite comprehend is the meaning of each tier and what type of deities are there.

"There's no benefit for me if I were to hide this. It's an insignificant type of information so it should be ok to explain this to you rather than just showing it. This is the 'Divine Hierarchy', and as the number decreases, the power strengthens on a visible degree. Here's how the rank goes...Let's start with the lower food chain- the lesser deities. "

"(VII) Spirit Deities - they are what men merely call as 'spirits' and each of them holds an element to be their symbol. Remember Ignitress that I summoned that fateful night? She's a potent example. And that giant gargoyle, Atlas, too, although probably the most powerful one in the rank... Overall, these types of deities can be summoned by the other deities to meet several needs, given that it is not in vain.

(VI) Quasi-Deities - These ranks are where the heads of pantheons are found. They are well-known as they are always in direct contact with men. An example of this is that womanizer, Zeus. How dare a human write about him and make him seem like, he is one feared deity.

(V) Relic Wardens - That Phantom Deity, Deus, is a potent figure in this rank...and that might have given you a little idea of what is in this tier. The deities in this ranks are tasked to secure a divine relic of importance. Weapons that are even more powerful than the quasi-deities. A blatant instance is the 'Trancy' in Celes' hand. In another word, a bunch of underpaid antique security guards...I have no idea how that girl got Deus to give her that dangerous weapon, but it's beyond my concern so I don't care.

(IV) Mythic Deities - Lower-ranked Gods can never comprehend this tier. They are the ones endowed with the responsibility of keeping the balance to everything. And you may not believe this, but this is where I am now and I don't even know how I got in that rank. Although I can't care. Increasing the ranks means more responsibilities and more responsibilities lead to a busy life. Up until now, I can never understand why everybody wants to climb the ranks as soon as possible. If there was a way for me to go back to the lowest rank, I would have done it a long time ago.

(III) Archangels - The bodyguards of the magistrates that are endowed by a very strong authority. And the 'commanding chiefs' of the game's factions are from this tier. Oh, and that guy who summoned Atlas is currently in this rank, although he guards nothing, he fell from the expectations of the highest and has rebelled. So, he's a fallen archangel perhaps.

So now we are in the higher deities which only embodies one rank...

(II) Magistrates - Hmmm. If I were to describe them, they're like the 'Supreme Student Council', except the circle is made up of deities of great importance. They are tasked to keep order and are the ones deciding the hierarchy.

Lastly, the Creation deities... The most revered of all.

(I) Primordials - There are only two primordial deities. And the two main factions or Armadas are named after them. That's right. Chaos and Mirage. The two primary creations are under their supervision where Chaos rules the void, while Miage rules the cosmos.

Lastly, the overall dominant...

(0)The Highest - The one without start and end. From where everything was created and to where everything must come back when destroyed. And have you ever wondered why the ranks ended in zero and not first? The magistrates described the highest as the number zero. It's empty if you look at it, but it holds an infinite possibility of value.