Asmodeus immediately had the urge to go to Avernus and suppress that traitor Bel. After all, if there was already one Bel, having another one made little difference. But just as Asmodeus was about to act, he stopped.
What about the crystal ball? Was he supposed to just leave it here? Give up absorbing the power within it?
Asmodeus hesitated. He was weighing the gains and losses.
While Asmodeus hesitated, Solam was still drifting closer in a daze. Just as his soul reached the seventh layer of Baator, Solam suddenly stopped.
Someone was calling him.
It felt like being sound asleep while someone beside you softly called your name. Instinctively, you did not want to wake up, but that voice kept disturbing you, leaving you suspended between sleep and wakefulness. That was Solam's current state.
The difference was that whether he remained muddled or became lucid was not up to him. Two forces were continuously pulling at him.
One force called Solam onward, while the other urged him to return.
Solam swayed uncertainly between the two.
However, this did not last long. Solam suddenly felt a tremendous boom, and agonizing pain completely jolted him awake!
The instant that pain struck, his previous muddleheadedness vanished completely, replaced by the full awakening of Solam's self-awareness.
The pain came out of nowhere. It was like being sound asleep when someone suddenly slapped you across the face—no, worse than that. It was like someone tossing a powerful firecracker beneath your blanket! That feeling...
In any case, Solam was furious. Absolutely furious. Which bastard was this damned?
"Who the hell hit me?!"
Enraged, Solam blurted out the curse.
In an instant, Solam, who had been on the seventh layer of Baator, suddenly returned to his body. Of course, Solam himself knew none of this.