The Expelled, Oblivious Strongest Boy Saves an S-Rank Beautiful Female Adventurer and Unknowingly Forms a Harem - 51-52

Chapter 51: Liam, Shaking Hands With the Empress

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Liam and the Empress exchanged magic blows while sometimes closing the distance in order to fight in close-quarters combat. The demons who were watching them in the spectators seat were murmuring in confusion. 

“O-Oi,oi,oi…. That human… He’s really going toe-to-toe with Empress-sama?”

“Ju-Just what is he?”

“Even though he looks like an ordinary brat… I guess you really can’t judge anyone by appearances alone.”

Most of the demons in the spectators’ seats had similar reactions. Meanwhile, Lydia and Meria, who were also watching the fight from the audience seat, had different responses from them. 

“As expected from Liam-san.”

“Yeah! His overwhelming amount of magic power and the sheer quality of it… Not to mention, he’s using all his skills perfectly. Ah, he’s so mesmerizing…”

Lydia was staring at Liam with respect while Meria was enthralled by the sight of Liam. Meria’s cheeks were flushed red. After a brief pause, Meria continued on. 

“You know, Empress-chan is actually doing quite well against Liam-kun, don’t you think so?~”

“Indeed. She immediately switches to the ice sword in her left hand when Liam-san attacks her in close combat and when they’re fighting at a distance, she will use her fast lightning magic to attack… I can tell that she’s an excellent fighter just from looking at her attack patterns and incredible reflex. I’d love to have a match against her one day.”

Meria and Lydia were talking about the fight while they continued to watch the battle between Liam and the Empress.

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The battle changed into close combat and I moved in to attack Empress-san but she quickly raised her ice sword with her left hand to block my attack. In response to that, I cast a fire spell in point blank range at her sword.

“Ugh…”

The ice sword began to melt, putting her at a disadvantage. Recognizing this, she quickly distanced herself from me. We were once again standing before each other. 

“What an incredible power… Fufu, to think a man as powerful as you exists in this world… I almost gave up, but I’m glad I didn’t. All the fights I had gone through were worth it. After all, I get to meet a strong man like you now.”

“…Me too. I’ve never fought anyone as strong as you, Empress-san.”

“Fufu… Hearing that from you is the greatest compliment I could hope for, but… The battle is far from over. Of course you will accompany me until the end, right?”

“Of course! I will fight with everything I have until the very end!”

“That’s the answer I wanted to hear… Alright. Here I come!”

Empress-san quickly closed the distance between us while exuding a powerful aura from her body. Of course, I couldn’t afford to hold myself back against someone like her. Just like what I had told her, I had to unleash everything I had in order to fight her. Then, almost with perfect synchronicity, we both unleashed lightning magic at each other. Our spells clashed at the center of the arena. The clash caused a blinding light to shine. Lightning magic continued to clash for a moment, but gradually, the  center of the light moved to the other side of the arena. Eventually, the lightning magic I shot managed to hit Empress-san.

“Ugh…”

Empress-san almost collapsed after receiving my lightning magic directly. She dropped to one knee. She managed to keep herself from falling by using her ice sword as support. 

“Empress-san!”

I called out to her as I rushed toward her. I was feeling worried about her. Getting hit directly by lightning magic of that caliber should’ve been enough to knock anyone unconscious. But when I was about to approach her, Empress-san raised one of her hands, signaling me to stop. Obeying her silent command, I stopped in my tracks. Then, Empress-san lifted her hand higher. With a powerful voice that echoed throughout the arena, Empress-san yelled. 

“THIS IS THE END OF THIS MATCH! THE VICTORY GOES TO MY OPPONENT, LIAM! And with that, I will stop looking for more challengers. From today onward, I won’t accept any challenges anymore! That is all!”

Empress-san declared and the audience immediately erupted into deafening cheers and applause, louder than anything I had heard before. 

“OOOOOOOHHHH!!”

“OUR MOST HONORED EMPRESS-SAMAAAAA!”

“That human is amazing too!”

The voices of the crowd blended together, making it hard to pick out individual words, but I could tell most of the crowd were cheering in a positive tone. Feeling excited due to the energy from the audience, I immediately rushed over to Empress-san and used healing magic on her.

“Empress-san, are you alright?”

“Yeah, thank you… Fufu~ I guess offensive magic is not your only forte. You’re amazing in healing magic too. I can feel my body starting to recover already… Liam, could you stop healing me for a moment? There’s something I need to do first.”

“Okay.”

Following Empress-san’s request, I dispelled my healing magic. She stood up and dispelled her ice sword before she extended her left hand toward me. 

“Just like what I said before, this match is my loss… Although it may seem strange for the loser to ask for something, but… If you don’t mind, would you shake hands with me, Liam?”

“Of course! Thank you so much for fighting me, Empress-san!”

I replied with enthusiasm and we shook hands. Almost immediately, the arena was filled with an even louder applause. Empress-san then flashed a gentle smile at me.

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Chapter 52: Empress, Making a Request to Liam

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We moved from the center of the arena to the hallway in the arena. I continued healing Empress-san there and once I deemed she had fully recovered, I stopped healing her and asked her for confirmation. 

“I think you’re mostly healed now, but do you still feel any pain anywhere?”

“None. I’m sorry for making you heal me after fighting you, Liam.”

“No! Please don’t worry about it!”

I said so and Empress-san gave me a small smile as she said. 

“All this time… I’ve been longing to meet someone stronger than me, but at the same time, as a warrior, I also feared the idea of being defeated by someone. Two conflicting feelings fighting within me and so… I often wondered how I’d feel when I actually get defeated by someone and now that it’s happened… Surprisingly, I don’t feel that bad. It feels quite good even. Probably because my opponent was someone so honorable and overwhelmingly strong like you.”

“O-Overwhelmingly strong… I’m not…”

I wasn’t quite sure what to say since the words ‘overwhelmingly strong’ didn’t seem to suit me at all. I was hesitating and Empress-san looked me in the eyes as she said. 

“Liam, you were able to defeat me. If you’re not strong, then that means all the warriors I have faced and fallen before me were not strong either. Don’t misunderstand, I’m not telling you this so you can be arrogant. I just want you to understand that you actually have the power to protect those you wish to protect.”

“The power to protect…”

“Even if you still don’t quite understand it yet, it’s fine. You will come to understand it gradually and I… I will always be by your side to support you from now on.”

“Empress-san… Thank you very mu─Huh?”

I was about to say thank you, but one particular part of Empress-san’s words caught my attention. 

“From now on…?”

I muttered out loud, confused by the meaning behind those words. Empress-san nodded confidently and said. 

“Yeah. Actually, I have a request for you.”

A request? 

I was wondering what sort of request she would have from me when I suddenly heard footsteps approaching us from deeper in the hallway. 

“Liam-sa—”

“Liam-ku—”

When Lydia-san and Meria-san were calling for me, Empress-san suddenly looked me in the eye and said confidently. 

“Liam, I want you to become my man.”

“Huh…?”

“-?!”

“WHAT?!”

Confused, I couldn’t immediately understand the meaning of her statement and then, Lydia-san and Meria-san, who had been running towards us, gasped in surprise. Thet quickened their pace and the moment they reached me, Meria-san exclaimed.

“Wait! Empress-chan?! What are you talking about all of a sudden?!”

“Hm? I simply told Liam that I want him to be my man.”

“That whole sentence doesn’t make any sense! Besides, you barely know anything about Liam-kun! What drove you to make that suggestion?!”

“When you fight someone wholeheartedly, you will come to understand your opponent, regardless of how many times you’ve encountered them and regardless of the time you’ve spent with them. Moreover, I’ve decided that I would dedicate my life to a man stronger than me. That’s the reason why I’ve been accepting challengers.”

“I see… So when you said to us that you have something you need to do beforehand… This is what you meant…”

“Yeah. I doubt there’s any man stronger than Liam in this world anyway. That being said, his strength is not the only reason. I’m also attracted to Liam’s character.”

Empress-san said with her right hand on my face. Her movement was so gentle, unlike how fierce she had been during our fight earlier. I found my body flinching at the sudden gesture and I could feel Lydia-san and Meria-san unleashing a powerful aura as they said. 

“Hey, Lydia-chan… Don’t you think we need to show Empress-chan our power so she won’t be so rash?~”

“I guess we should…”

For once, Lydia-san and Meria-san were in agreement. Empress-san withdrew her hand from my face. She turned to face them and said. 

“Oh? Interesting. So you two will fight me next…? I’ve realized you two are strong when I first saw you two… Well, my body has fully recovered too. Very well. Show me your power. Let’s see if you two are worthy to be by Liam’s side.”

After she said that, Empress-san also released a powerful magic aura from her body. Empress-san and Meria-san walked toward the center of the arena. There were no spectators left. Lydia-san was about to follow them,but I stopped her. 

“Lydia-san!”

I called her name and Lydia-san turned to me and said. 

“Don’t worry, Liam-san. We’re not going to fight her for real. We’re only going to measure each other’s strength and also… I have something I want to talk about with you. I hope we can find a moment to be alone tonight.”

“…! Okay.”

I nodded in response to her words and Lydia-san gave me a gentle smile before heading toward the center of the arena. Although I was curious about what Lydia-san wanted to talk about tonight, but I had a bigger concern at hand. Although they were only going to fight to test each other’s strength, but I was still worried about them. I knew they weren’t quarreling, but still. I decided to follow the three of them to the arena.

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