The massive mountain in front of them trembled more as it suddenly opened up with a slight hiss.
Shax’s eyes, which were currently blinded, was not able to see the sudden bright light coming out of the mountain.
But he already knew that it will come out, so he pretended to wince from that light.
Stolas secretly nodded after seeing Shax acting well.
After all, Andromalius, Beleth and Phenex will be suspicious once they realized that Shax has temporarily blinded himself.
Shax will only temporarily blind himself if he faces a strong enemy.
If the 3 Djinns were to notice what happened to his eyes, they will surely think that Shax was up to something.
Not that it matters now, since it seems like they were already wary of Shax and Stolas.
“Well, we do not need their trust. We only need to get near to Solomon to do our thing. As long as that condition was fulfilled, I will not care even if these 3 view me in contempt.”
Stolas sighed inwardly, as he realized that Lin Fang taking their Items actually helped them.
Because of that, Solomon’s control over them weakened entirely, allowing Shax and Stolas to regain their self-assertion.
Even though he felt pissed with Lin Fang bossing them around, Stolas was also grateful to Lin Fang for letting them have their ‘freedom’.
Stolas glanced at Andromalius, Beleth and Phenex as he thought to himself,
“You are all my friends too. I swear that I will also save you three from Solomon, no matter what it takes!”
Shax had the same line of thoughts as Stolas, though Shax feels unhappy to let Andromalius be free.
“Hmph, if it were just me, I would just want that Anndromalius brat to stay enslaved! But since I am a compassionate Djinn, maybe I will try to help him…..” Shax laughed inwardly, as he imagined Andromalius’s expression once Shax had freed him.
“That bastard will surely die of mixed emotions!”
The mountain stopped glowing after a minute of waiting.
Even if Shax could not see it, his divine sense allowed him to see what happened to the mountain itself.
The mountain itself was now gone, as it mysteriously disappeared.
Shax, with his expertise in illusions, knew that the mountain they were seeing earlier was just an illusion created by a magical formation.
This magical formation gathered the energy of this planet, constantly providing it with power. This power in turn lets the magical formation create a solid mountain that was covering the way to Solomon.
The whole magical formation was there to hide the entrance to a ladder plunging straight down the planet.
The truth was that Solomon was actually not at the Exalted Layer. It was just a rumor propagated by the Djinns to add a layer of safety to Solomon.
In actuality, the Exalted Layer is just there to separate Solomon’s place to the Common and the Median Layer.
“Let’s hop in.” Beleth said as he started to climb down the ladder.
This ladder plunging down will only end near the core of this planet, which was actually where Solomon was residing now!
The heat and power released by this planet’s core was beneficial on healing Solomon, though it was still slow than from what can be expected.
If Shax and the other Djinns were to approach the core, even they will be killed by the heat of the core.
The only thing that will let them survive is Solomon’s own protection.
That meant that if Solomon wanted them to get near him, he will personally protect the Djinns from the heat of the core.
But if Solomon does not want anyone getting near him. he will not do anything to reduce the heat of that core.
This can be considered as the final layer of Solomon’s defenses, which can be considered extremely hard to pass through.
But this defense had put headaches on the head of Beleth, Andromalius, and Phenex.
It was because after Solomon woke up with those mental injuries of his, he did not allow any of the Djinns to get near his body!
Everytime the Djinns tried to get near him, Solomon will not do anything to weaken the heat of the core, which forces them to go back.
This already happened numerous times, and this is the 147th time they were doing it.
“Now that all of us remaining Djinns are going to meet Lord Solomon, maybe he will let us in already.” Shax said to defuse the tense atmosphere.
“I hope so.” Andromalius mumbled in reply.
“Of course I hope so too!” Shax grumbled inwardly as he knew their only chance of getting back their Items from Lin Fang was if they get to meet Solomon’s real body.
“Let us in, let us in, let us in…..” Shax muttered mentally as they got nearer and nearer to the core.
All the Djinns started sweating as waves and waves of heat collided them.
“Here it comes…..” Shax thought inwardly as they neared the core.
The Djinns paused as they waited for Solomon’s decision.
“Come… in…”
All of them sighed in relief after hearing this. Shax and Stolas perked up as they fiddled some things inside their storage. Of course they did it in such a way that it will be undetected by the other Djinns.
Minutes passed by before the Djinns could reach a platform.
In that platform, a hulking, monstrously large figure could be seen.
But due to an extremely thick fog covering the body, the Djinn could not see the body’s whole appearance.
What they could only see was a scaly black hand flopping around.
Hisses of pain could also be heard from the body, hisses that were so full of misery as if this being was in great pain just because it was existing.
This being was the legendary Solomon, the Planet Devouring Djinn!
All the Djinns kneeled, as a sign of respect to their leader.
Solomon’s figure obstructed by the fog shifted slightly as it seemingly stared at the Djinns.
“Did you…. all see….. what that goddess…. look-alike did…”
“Yes, we have seen it Lord Solomon!” Beleth replied as he wore a fervent look on his face.
“Just say the word, Lord Solomon, and we will crush that pretentious rebel!”
“Arggh!!!!” Solomon suddenly shouted before clutching his head while rolling on the floor.
Beleth had tears on his eyes as he saw the suffering that his master was in right now.
“Lord Solomon should not be in this kind of pain when he woke up…… The face of those rebels might have been the cause of Lord’s current pain!
What Beleth was pertaining to was the appearance of Fang Yu, Tang Li, and Shamaila that was similar to the Goddess.
When Solomon saw these three, his emotions might have been affected, causing him to be in greater pain.
“My Lord!” Now, even Phenex and Andromalius were crying as they felt sad upon seeing that state of their lord.
“I….. have used… all my traps…” Solomon managed to squeeze out as he continued rolling around the floor in pain.
“Andromalius….”
“Yes my Lord?” Andromalius perked up as he stared at Solomon hopefully.
“Phenex……and my Beleth……..”
“Yes my Lord?”x2
“Go and…. clean up… those rebel scum……. for me….”
“As you wish my Lord!”x3
Andromalius, Beleth and Phenex immediately left the place, as they knew that by defeating the rebels, Solomon’s mental condition will surely improve. They will not waste more time, especially after they saw the state that their Lord was in right now.
With their departure, only Shax and Stolas were left behind, leaving them under the glare of Solomon.
“You two……. come near me….”
“No I don’t want to!” Shax and Stolas thought inwardly to themselves. But they had no choice but to follow his command, or else they will be found out.
Due to Fang Yu getting their Items, Solomon’s control over them had been overwritten with Fang Yu’s authority. So, they can choose to disobey Solomon.
But at the current situation that they are in now, doing that will be the wrong move.
“Are you….. two…. scared……..”
“Of course not milord!” Shax and Stolas murmured as they approached Solomon’s thrashing body.
“Good….”
All of a sudden, one of Solomon’s black hand shot out, grabbing Shax and Stolas unawares. They tried to struggle, but they were helpless against Solomon’s powerful body.
“I……. am…… so…… hungry…… now…”
The two terrified Djinn then saw a huge gaping mouth with serrated teeth lining its edges.
This mouth was filled with blood, with some part of it slightly pulsing like a heart.
This terrifying mouth was currently making its way towards Shax and Stolas!
