Hearing all those confessions, Gaia stroked her chin while nodding several times. Her expression was serious but not surprised, as if everything being told only confirmed a prediction.
"I see... So the Echo of the Template phenomenon has already begun to appear. Faster than I expected... No, actually it's quite natural for you to experience it now. After all, the difficulty of this Quest was deliberately pushed to the highest limit to test you."
"Echo of the Template...?"
Farah and the other eight Saviors looked at each other, confused. That was a completely unfamiliar term to them.
Without them needing to ask further, Gaia had already begun to provide an explanation, her voice calm yet full of weight.
"Echo of the Template is a phenomenon where Saviors see flashes of memory fragments that don't originate from yourselves, but rather from the 'template' character that serves as a vessel for your soul and consciousness when you reincarnate."
"This happens when your soul and consciousness experience 'overheat' or extreme fatigue that exceeds the normal threshold, making the psychic defense between your original identity and the body you inhabit become thin."
Gaia paused for a moment, making sure they all caught her words, before continuing.
"Then, why can this happen? The answer is simple, yet complex. The bodies you occupy are not new creations from zero. Alaya and I... we didn't create them from nothingness. These bodies are the 'corpses' of those template characters themselves, who have died in their original timelines."
Gaia's face showed a slight impression of weariness, an acknowledgment of limitations.
"We are not omnipotent creators. We are merely manifestations of collective will; I from planets, Alaya from humanity. We don't have the authority to create human life from scratch. Our power is limited to existing reality. If we were indeed omnipotent, this Abyssal Devourer invasion could have been handled by us alone, without needing to summon you from other worlds to become Saviors."
Gaia made a sweeping gesture with her hand.
"The template bodies you use are... the actual corpses of those characters. We took those corpses from worlds or timelines where they died tragically, but the corpses were still in prime condition or the best we could repair."
"We avoid taking character corpses in their old age. Instead, we look for alternatives in parallel timelines—other possibility worlds—where versions of the same template characters died earlier, for various reasons. Those corpses from parallel timelines are what we then take and prepare for you to occupy."
"Essentially, you're not only borrowing their appearance and abilities, but also occupying a physical vessel that once stored their original souls and experiences."
Gaia looked around, making sure they understood this explanation.
"The process of placing your souls into those corpses, combined with the extreme pressure and fatigue from the Quest, sometimes causes the barrier between your original memories and the latent memories of the corpse to become fragile. That's when the 'echo' of the original owner's life slips into your consciousness. That is the Echo of the Template. It's proof that what you occupy is not an empty puppet, but once was someone who lived, breathed, and had their own story."
"..."
The explanation hung in the air of Void Sanctuary.
The Saviors now realized they weren't just 'playing roles', but had truly 'inhabited' the body of someone who had died, carrying along the remnants of their suffering and end of life.
The Saviors digested the explanation with various expressions.
For some Saviors, especially women like Farah, Claire, and Elena, their faces wrinkled mixing disgust and unease. For them, knowing that they were "possessing" the body of someone already dead felt very unethical and creepy, like being a disguised ghost.
On the other hand, most male Saviors appeared calmer, even nodding slightly. For those who had read many novels or comics themed on transmigration, the concept of taking over a dead person's body was commonplace—almost like routine. Even so, the deep impression from the "Echo" they experienced couldn't be completely ignored.
While they were immersed in their respective thoughts, Charlie raised his hand.
"Gaia, is there a way to deal with Echo of the Template? Honestly, experiencing other people's tragic experiences... is not something pleasant."
For him, this question was very important. He didn't want to experience recurring nightmares where he (or more precisely, the body he occupied) experienced becoming a victim of NTR.
"That's easy. Don't push yourself." Gaia answered lightly. "As long as you don't excessively use your power beyond the tolerance limit of this soul and body, Echo of the Template won't be triggered."
The answer sounded very irresponsible. Gaia even smiled amusedly, as if she could read Charlie's thoughts and knew that compared to other Saviors' nightmares about death, Charlie's nightmare was indeed 'very different' and somewhat ridiculous.
"Haaah... I understand." Charlie sighed resignedly.
What else could he do?
Before the 'big boss', his position was just a low-level employee. Recognizing one's position and not offending superiors was an important survival skill.
"Enough. End this topic of discussion. Let's begin the Reward distribution. As usual, starting from chair number I."
Alaya apparently didn't want the Saviors to linger immersed in contemplation or complicated questions in Void Sanctuary. She wanted them to leave her home immediately.
Farah, who sat in chair number I, immediately conveyed her request with a calm yet confident voice.
"What I want is the Sun Authority Leo from the Mondaiji-tachi ga Isekai kara Kuru Sou Desu yo? Series."
In the Mondaiji world, Sun Authority was one of the strongest Authorities in Little Garden, on par with Master Host Authority.
Sun Authority had many Gifts that could influence human civilization and history. There were twenty-four Sun Authorities created from the combination of two systems: Zodiac and Chinese Zodiac.
The Sun Authority Leo that Farah targeted had the main gift of immunity. This Authority was able to strengthen the owner's defense to be immune to all types of sharp weapons and immune to all forms of physical attacks.
It should be noted that Mondaiji's fictional scale was top-tier, namely multiverse-level combat power. Even Charlie's Armor of Fafnir was nothing compared to Sun Authority Leo.
In other words, once Farah obtained it, even a rampaging attack from Gilgamesh with the entire contents of Gate of Babylon, including Ea (Enuma Elish), wouldn't be able to scratch her skin. On the other hand, there were many Noble Phantasms capable of penetrating Armor of Fafnir inside Gate of Babylon.
"Accepted." Alaya answered without hesitation.
Sun Authority Leo was a type of additional ability and didn't conflict with the Reward provisions, so the request was granted.
*SWISH!*
A warm and dignified golden light began to gather before Farah, indicating the new ability had been integrated into her.