That day, devils throughout Barto Hell anxiously gathered information and awaited any news from the Nine Hells.
Unfortunately, the hellish fortress Malsheem was Asmodeus's residence and the central hub of hellish power. The devils present that day were all his direct subordinates, so naturally, none of them would take the initiative to leak such intelligence.
Moreover, whether it was Li Wei, who had returned with that contract in hand, or Mephistopheles and Baalzebul, who had lost all face in this affair, all of them shut their doors to visitors after returning to their respective layers.
Thus, what exactly had happened that day became like a black box—irresistibly tantalizing, yet utterly unknowable.
Still, at least one matter caused an uproar among the high-ranking devils.
The Fly Lord Baalzebul had actually regained his astral angel form!
Baalzebul had openly launched a full-scale civil war against the eighth layer, Cania, during the Great Reckoning, and had thus suffered the Lord of Hell's curse and punishment. This was common knowledge throughout all Hell.
What left the devils even more astonished and shocked was that, after all these years, this former astral angel had once again joined forces with the newly appointed Duke of Avernus to fight their way into Cania, all the way into the depths of the Nine Hells.
Yet now, every sign showed that not only had Baalzebul escaped further punishment, he seemed instead to have gained His Majesty Asmodeus's forgiveness!
All this fog of uncertainty left the devils of the eighth layer in a state of panic. They feared that their own lord had been caught by Duke Baalzebul with some compromising leverage, and feared even more that this capricious archdevil would vent his anger on them, bringing down a rain of Hellfire upon the icy sea itself. As a result,