Raviel and the others listened without interrupting as Garion and Eldrin finished telling the full story.
When it was over, the room stayed quiet.
No one spoke for a long time.
Rendric was the first to move. He took off his glasses, wiped them slowly, then put them back on.
"…Let me get this straight," he said carefully.
"The Demon Gate. The source of demonic invasions. The reason Demon Gate Island was feared for generations…"
He looked at Garion.
"You destroyed it."
Garion shrugged. "Yeah."
Aveline stared at him. "Just like that?"
Cindor laughed. "Not 'just like that.' It was chaotic."
Raviel leaned back heavily in his chair.
"So the island that every cultivator avoided… the island people called cursed…"
He exhaled slowly.
"And you solved it in a little over a year."
Garion scratched his cheek. "When you say it like that, it sounds dramatic."
"It is dramatic," Rendric said immediately.
