The Expelled, Oblivious Strongest Boy Saves an S-Rank Beautiful Female Adventurer and Unknowingly Forms a Harem - 43-44

Chapter 43: Lydia, Fighting Against Meria

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー

◆◇◆

“You’re always like this! Why must you always get in my way?!”

While facing Meria in front of the inn, Lydia shouted as she enveloped her sword in flames with the spell 【Flame Slash】 and charged at Meria. However, Meria defended against that attack with a protective spell while replying.

“I don’t know anything about that! Besides, it’s you, Lydia-chan! You’re the one who’s always interrupting me!”

“That’s because you’re just causing trouble for Liam-san!”

Meria said while creating a distance between herself and Lydia. Meria then unleashed a lightning spell toward Lydia, which Lydia countered by deflecting the incoming spell with her sword. Her word was now imbued with the wind attribute, thanks to the skill 【Gale Slash】. Lydia then shouted back.

“He’s not troubled! He’s just embarrassed!!”

While the two of them continued to argue with each other, Liam finally emerged from the inn.

“Hu-Huh? You already started fighting?”

Liam exclaimed in surprise upon seeing the two of them fighting. The fight had already begun a while ago. Both Lydia and Meria were momentarily distracted by Liam’s arrival, but Meria quickly shouted at Lydia.

“Sure, Lydia-chan is strong, but I’m stronger! I will make sure you understand this with your body now!”

With that, Meria unleashed fire magic from both hands. She hurled fireball after fireball at Lydia. Lydia quickly focused her attention back to Meria as she skillfully deflected every attack. Soon, the surrounding demon race people began paying attention to their fierce battle. 

“Hey, who are those two?”

“What the hell is up with that fire? It’s huge! And she’s firing it repeatedly!?”

“And that swordswoman deflecting all of it?! What’s with her!?”

More and more demons gathered around, forming a crowd. Their voice of amazement soon turned to cheer, adding excitement to the fight.

“Somehow… The crowd has become unnecessarily big… But anyway, as long as I keep overwhelming her like this, Lydia-chan will be forced to deflect it with her sword and since she’s going to use her sword for defense, she won’t be able to switch to offense. In that case—”

“I will make you regret underestimating me!”

Interrupting Meria’s words with a yell, Lydia used movement magic to move behind Meria at a speed too fast for her to follow. She then unleashed a wind slash with her 【Swift Wind Slash】toward Meria’s back. It was a surprise attack with enough force to land a decisive blow. Lydia’s victory seemed imminent, however… Even though Meria couldn’t follow Lydia’s movements with her eyes, but she was able to track the magic trace left by her movement magic. To defend against Lydia’s attack from behind, Meria raised an ice wall, successfully blocking the 【Swift Wind Slash】. The ice wall shattered from the force of the slash and the two of them stood facing each other once again.

“…Indeed. Lydia-chan is not someone I should underestimate…”

“I can say the same to you.”

The surrounding demons, who had been watching their fierce battle, became even more excited after seeing how fast the two could move. However, Lydia and Meria remained unfazed. They ignored the crowd and were about to continue their fight when—

“Pl-please stop already!”

With a loud voice, Liam stepped between the two of them.

“Liam-san…”

“You two are comrades, there’s no need for you two to be fighting like this!”

“Even so, both me and Lydia-chan like Liam-kun. Putting our close relationship aside, we’re bound to fight like this because we both like you, Liam-kun. This fight is inevitable.”

“Tha-That’s…”

After hearing Meria’s explanation, Liam looked so terribly sad. However, after a brief pause, he clenched both of his fists and said again. 

“You both are so precious to me. I hate it that you two can’t get along well because of me… And so, I will…”

Liam closed his mouth for a moment before he raised his voice again. 

“I WILL MAKE BOTH OF YOU HAPP—”

“What is all this commotion?”

But someone interrupted him mid-sentence. The surrounding demons quickly made way for the mysterious woman. A path opened up among the crowd and then, through that path, a woman with white hair clad in black dress appeared. Her pale skin and striking beauty carried a strange and peculiar aura.

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー

Chapter 44: Liam, Meeting the Empress

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー

◆◇◆

Long white hair along with pale and beautiful skin. Her impeccably sculpted figure stood out, even though she was clad in her black dress. Her stunning visage made everyone stop moving. Lydia-san also had a dignified and strict beauty to her, but the presence this mysterious woman carried was on a whole nother level. There was something ethereal, something otherworldly about her. I stood there, mesmerized by her strange aura when the woman in the black dress said again. 

“I sensed two strong magical forces and heard a commotion, so I decided to stop by… It seems you two are the cause of this disturbance.”

The white haired woman glanced at Lydia-san and Meria-san before she continued on. 

“I can tell that you’re both quite strong, but please remember. You two are fighting within the territory of my nation, I would appreciate it if you two refrained from escalating even further.”

“My nation…?!”

I was startled when she mentioned that. Lydia-san then said to her. 

“Your nation… Could it be… You are the Empress of the Demon Kingdom? The one we’ve heard so much about?”

“That is me, yes.”

In response to Lydia-san’s question, the woman in the black dress nodded. 

The Empress?! I had sensed something unusual about her, but I didn’t expect she would be THE EMPRESS!

“But judging from how the demons around us are reacting… It seems chaos and fights like this are a daily occurrence in the Demon Kingdom. So why would Empress-chan personally come to us?”

“Empress…-chan?”

Empress-san seemed a bit perplexed by the unfamiliar way Meria-san addressed her, but she quickly regained her composure and answered Meria-san’s question.

“While it’s true that there are many troublemakers in my country, but none of them possess magic powers as strong as you two. That’s why I personally came here to stop you and if I may add one more thing… I actually have a proposal for you both.”

“A proposal…?”

Meria-san asked and Empress-san continued on. 

“As you may have heard, I often invite challengers to engage in one-on-one battles against me… So, if you don’t mind, I’d like the two of you to fight me.”

“Why would you specifically invite us to such a challenge?”

“Because you are strong. To be honest, most of the fights I had lately ended with just one spell from me. But… I can tell the fight won’t end that fast if it’s with you two. It would have been preferable if you two were men, but alas… I can’t afford to be picky when I see strong individuals appear before me.”

Though I didn’t quite understand why she would prefer a man, but Meria-san nodded repeatedly as she listened to Empress-san.

“Yeah, yeah. I totally get it. If it were me, I would never let myself lose after one spell. I might even return double the magic and beat you, Empress-chan. But well~ If you’re so eager to fight someone strong and you prefer it to be a man, why not try fighting Liam-kun first?”

Meria-san said as she pushed me forward, even though I had been standing behind her and Lydia-san. Now I was forced to stand against Empress-san. 

“Hm? But he’s just an ordinary human man….Hm?! For me to feel overpowered like this…?! Just what are you exactly?!”

Empress-san, who was about to say something, suddenly looked flabbergasted and glared at me in suspicion. 

…What am I…?

“My name is Liam.”

Not sure what to say, I decided to just introduce myself first. 

“Liam…”

Empress-san softly murmured my name. Meria-san then placed her hands on both of my shoulders and said. 

“You see~ Liam-kun here actually came all the way to the Demon Kingdom to fight you, Empress-chan. Isn’t that right, Liam-kun?”

“-?! Ye-Yeah! I wanted to see how my current strength measures up against Empress-san. I’ve heard the rumors about your strength, so I came here to hone my skills!”

I nodded firmly and Empress-san then said. 

“I see… Then I shall be your opponent today.”

“Eh!? A-Are you sure? M-May I?!”

“Of course… In fact, I have been waiting for this moment for a long time.”

Empress-san said with a small smile adorning her face. She then continued on. 

“Please wait for me in the spectator seats of the arena. The arena is located in the middle of this city. I would like to fight you right away, but unfortunately, I have other business I need to attend to first.”

After hearing Empress-san’s reply, Meria-san finally released her grip from my shoulders and said. 

“Other business to attend to… How long will it take?”

“Well, I said other business to attend to, but I actually have another human man who wishes to fight me, just like Liam. So, I will need to fight that man first before Liam. Fufu~ I do have to say, I didn’t have much expectations of human men, but after seeing Liam… I guess I can’t say that anymore.”

Empress-san smiled. Her face looked somewhat gentle as she stared at me before she turned her back to us. 

“If you head to the arena now, you will get to witness my battle against that man. I hope you will enjoy the fight.”

And so, Empress-san walked away from the scene. Indeed. She was a bit peculiar and somewhat mysterious, but she didn’t seem to be a bad person. We then decided to head to the arena, which was located in the center of the city, as Empress-san had told us to. A fellow human man was going to fight Empress-san… I wondered what kind of fighting style that human man had. I couldn’t stop myself from wondering about it. I was really looking forward to witnessing their battle. 

ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー