Void Sanctuary
The sky—if it could be called a sky—in Void Sanctuary wasn't a blue sky with clouds or the darkness of night with a moon. It was an infinite canvas adorned by countless stars.
However, each point of light there wasn't a star in the ordinary astronomical sense. Each glimmer, each dim or bright light, represented a Planar World, a self-contained universe within which lived intelligent beings.
Simply put, Void Sanctuary was a place unbound by space and time, a space standing independently above countless multiverses.
"Everyone has completed their Quests. It's time to bring them here."
The entity speaking was the personification of the collective human will from all worlds in the multiverse, Alaya, present in the form of a cold and graceful female figure.
The voice that resonated softly yet authoritatively came from a feminine silhouette radiating an aura of warmth and fertility like the earth itself. She was Gaia.
"Phew... Although there were some accidents in the field, overall the results can be considered successful. As expected, quality indeed beats quantity."
Another entity patted her chest with relief. She was Gaia, the personification of the collective will of all planets with life, present in the form of a beautiful woman no less than Alaya.
"Alright! Let's welcome back our Saviors who have worked hard!"
Ignoring Alaya's silence beside her, Gaia raised her hand and waved.
*BUZZ!*
The next second, bright white light suddenly shone above nine of the ten existing chairs. Those chairs were arranged in a circle around a large round table, reminiscent of the Knights of the Round Table in Arthurian legend.
The light lasted for a moment, then faded, revealing the figures now sitting on them.
They were the Saviors.
Chosen humans, geniuses in their respective fields from their original worlds, directly selected by Gaia and Alaya to be tasked with saving Planar Worlds threatened with destruction.
◆━⊰✧⊱━◆
Sitting in the chair marked with Roman numeral V, Charlie Avalon calmed himself after the initial shock of suddenly moving places. He felt the energy in that place healing every fatigue and tension he had accumulated over the past two years.
(I see. Wang Jian and Elena have completed their parts. On our side it took over two years to complete this Quest. I'm curious how long the duration of other Saviors took to complete their Quests.)
His thoughts ran quickly while his eyes secretly swept over his other colleagues.
The condition of the Saviors present varied. Some, like himself, looked relatively neat and healthy, only appearing mentally exhausted. However, some others were in far worse condition.
Fujita Kazuya (Tsukiguni Yoriichi) in chair II had lost his right arm from the base, his remaining arm appeared charred.
Farah Nadia (Tsukuyomi Tsukasa) in chair I had a gaping wound on her forehead still dripping blood.
Frank Günther (Ishigami Senku) in chair XI had even lost both legs from the knees down.
However, the miracle of Void Sanctuary immediately worked. Under everyone's gaze, golden and green particle light enveloped their injured bodies.
Flesh grew, bones reformed, lost limbs regenerated from nothingness. Within a few breaths, all those severe injuries healed completely without scars, though the fatigue and trauma in their eyes remained.
"Welcome back, Saviors!"
Gaia welcomed them cheerfully, as if they had just returned from a picnic, not from life-and-death battles.
"You've done an amazing job! Not a single one fell! Awesome! I had mentally prepared myself to lose two, or even three people, considering the difficulty of this Quest. But you all returned intact! Truly remarkable!"
Beside her, Alaya remained silent. Her cold figure showed absolutely no joy or concern for their safety.
"..."
Not a single Savior responded to Gaia's cheerful greeting.
They were tired, very tired. Fatigue that wasn't just physical, but also mental and emotional after being involved in conflicts in other worlds, often for years of subjective time.
Right now, they wanted only one thing: to receive the promised reward, and immediately return to their respective original worlds to rest.
Realizing the Saviors' unenthusiastic condition, Gaia dropped her playful attitude.
"Geez, you all look listless and unenthusiastic. Let's skip the formalities and go straight to the reward-giving session—"
"Wait a moment! Before that, would you mind if I ask something?"
Charlie, who was about to raise his hand to ask about his NTR nightmare, was preceded by Valentine Claire (Hoshino Ai) in chair IV. Her usually sparkling eyes now looked disturbed.
Gaia looked slightly surprised, then smiled.
"Of course~ as long as it's not a secret, I'll answer it."
She waved her hand kindly, ignoring the cold and slightly sullen gaze from Alaya beside her who seemed to dislike such personal interaction.
Claire took a deep breath. "Why did I suddenly experience a very realistic nightmare? As if I myself experienced it."
"In that dream, I was stabbed by a man when opening my apartment door. My death was witnessed by a small child. A little boy named... Hoshino Aqua."
"Without a doubt, it was the tragic death experience of Hoshino Ai, my template character. Previously, I had never dreamed like that. What happened?"
"..."
The expressions of several other Saviors changed upon hearing Claire tell that story. Some of them nodded slightly, indicating they also experienced something similar.
"You experienced it too?" Said Fujita Kazuya from chair II. "I dreamed of Tsukiguni Yoriichi's end of life. Old and decrepit, half my body mercilessly cut by my own older brother, Tsukiguni Michikatsu. I could feel the bitterness, disappointment, and cold spreading before the last breath."
Wang Jian from chair VI, who was usually calm, now had a sour face.
"I dreamed as Gojo Satoru defeated by Sukuna. I remember clearly... when I was fighting, I was too arrogant and careless before achieving victory. And then, I was split into two parts at the waist. It felt so real, I could feel every second of that cutting."
(Huh? Turns out other Saviors also experienced similar nightmares?)
(But... not exactly the same. They dreamed of their template characters' deaths. Whereas I... more precisely my template character, Karasuki Rio, dreamed of failing to save the heroines and ending up... getting NTR'd.)
The corner of his eye twitched again, Charlie didn't know whether to be happy or sad. He didn't dream of his horrible death, but instead became a victim of NTR. In the list of nightmares, somehow his felt the most embarrassing.