Denied: A Devil’s Thousandth Proposal

The Demon Realm. The sky here is always gloomy, with phoenixes screeching as they fly by in the distance, leaving behind ripples carrying the aura of death. In the center of the boundless plain, a tall and sinister castle stands abruptly, and no intelligent demonic creatures can be seen within a ten-mile radius. Rock Johnson , one of the five Abyss Dukes of the Demon Realm , and no one dares to approach it. Suddenly, the peace was broken. A teleportation array glowing with a light purple light unfolded above the castle, and two figures embracing each other appeared from the array. As soon as the man and woman appeared, dozens of black flame arrows surged forth from below, carrying the momentum to pierce through them. The man with two horns on his head twitched his shoulders slightly, and the thin wings behind him suddenly enveloped the two of them. Black flames splattered against the thin membrane of flesh, but were all deflected and dissipated. "Hey, Rock , is this how you welcome me?" the man called out, spreading his thin wings and looking down at the crowd with displeasure. A tall figure emerged from the castle, flapping enormous fleshy wings. His long black hair danced in the wind, and atop his head were black, curved horns. Beneath the horns was a handsome yet sinister face, pale and cold, with narrow, slender eyes narrowed in displeasure, his ruby-like eyes overflowing with mockery. He grinned, revealing snow-white teeth, and said, "Baran, when have I ever welcomed you?" "Oh dear, we've been friends for thousands of years, why be so hypocritical?" Baran didn't mind Rock Johnson 's attitude and said with a smile, "I'm getting married, and I've come to deliver the invitation to you personally!" With a flick of his wrist, an exquisitely crafted invitation fell into Rock Johnson's hand. Rock Johnson held the invitation between two fingers of his right hand, his gaze fixed on the woman Balan was embracing. He knew at a glance that it was a human woman. The human woman had thick, long golden hair and delicate, beautiful features, but her expression was like that of a timid deer in the forest. At this moment, she was shyly clinging tightly to Balan’s waist, as if afraid of falling. Rock Johnson is a demon. In fact, the five Abyss Grand Dukes of the Demon Realm are all demons who climbed up from the Abyss. Demons are natural racists, looking down on other races, especially physically weak humans, whom they see as filthy, incompetent, and hypocritical. Rock Johnson always mocked Balan whenever they met, but for thousands of years he had genuinely considered Balan a friend. Now, upon hearing that Balan was getting married to a human woman, he thought his friend was joking: "Are you crazy? You think human women are dirty to even touch, and you want to marry her?" “Hey, don’t say things like that in front of my future wife. Catherine is different; she’s a pure and beautiful unicorn, and I’ve fallen in love with her.” Baran stopped Rock Johnson first , then looked down at his future wife, lifted her chin, and kissed her tenderly. A blush rose on Catherine's face as she wrapped her arms around Balan's neck, her expression one of rapture. Rock Johnson frowned deeply, wanting to get rid of these two eyesores. Considering his friend's feelings, Balan quickly ended the kiss, looking at Rock Johnson with a very good mood , and said with a smile: " Rock , I used to be only obsessed with sensory stimulation, and I thought that was the most wonderful thing in the world. Now I realize that the taste of love is the sweetest. Why don't you always stay in your castle and go and taste the beauty of love?" Rock Johnson scoffed, "Love? Your love is just that of hypocritical and lowly creatures like humans? Balan, you are a disgrace to the devil. I think you will be destroyed by human women sooner or later." “Don’t be so harsh, Rock ,” Balan said, displeased. “There are some hypocritical and annoying people in the world, but there are also little lambs like Catherine.” As he spoke, he lowered his head and smiled tenderly at Catherine. The blush on petite Catherine's face had not yet faded, and her emerald green eyes reflected Balan's handsome face. Rock Johnson couldn't stand it anymore. He looked away in disgust and said coldly, "Whatever. I'm not going to your wedding." Black flames erupted in his hand, instantly burning the invitation to ashes. Rock Johnson could fly back to the castle, Balan said, " Rock , let's make a bet." Rock Johnson paused, looking at Balan with a hint of interest in his blood-red eyes: "What bet?" Balan said, "Don't you look down on human women and think they're all vain? You have six months before the wedding. If you can get one hundred human women to accept your proposal within six months, you'll win. But if you can't, you'll have to come to my wedding." "If I win, you'll kill your love?" Rock Johnson sneered, finding the bet ridiculous, but he was indeed a little competitive. Catherine flinched when she heard Rock Johnson 's words. Balan quickly hugged her to comfort her, then glared at Rock Johnson before saying, "If you win, I'll give you the Abyss Tree Seed that I just got recently." Rock Johnson's eyes changed. If he had only been somewhat interested in Balan's words before, he was now determined to win. He has been searching for the Abyss Tree for thousands of years, and has only found two so far. He is determined to have this one from Balan! “Deal,” Rock Johnson said, raising an eyebrow and a smirk. “You’ll keep it safe for me for the next six months.” Seeing that Rock Johnson had agreed, Balan, unconcerned about his attitude that he already considered the Abyss Tree Seeds as his possession, added maliciously, "However, you can't force them to accept your proposal, much less kidnap them to the Demon Realm. You must conquer their hearts in the human world with your personal charm!" “A mere human woman, I have no need to force her.” Rock Johnson agreed nonchalantly. "Then I'll be waiting for your good news!" Balan smiled and activated the teleportation array, giving Rock Johnson a meaningful look before happily teleporting away with Catherine.