Hi, 1998 s70, nt, at, 178k

Been working on throttle cable replacement for over 2 hours......sighhhhhh

I got it apart from the throttle body linkage side easily. Now have it about 80-90% disassembled from the firewall side....But Im stuck, literally.. Heres some pics of where Im at, I cant get the little ball from firewall side to release from inside the firewall.....I dont know what im doing wrong here. Do i need to go underneath the dash near the gas pedal? Does the pedal need to be pressed while removing? I dont know how else to get this out.

Any help is appreciated!!!

The left pic is further away, and I put the new cable in view so you know what the "ball" is i am refering too.
The right pic is closer to the firewall, where does the cable go??? lol ive stuck my finger throught the yellow insulation and still dont know what to do.....