Chapter 42: The 11 Commanders Of Reyha

-Reyha Kingdom; Gallo City-

Going through the city's main street, Lavenica carrying an unconscious Kymani was surrounded by royal knights being led by the small man and Sir Bun Bun.

Around them, various individuals would stop to look at what was going on, from Humans to Elves to Dwarves to monsters and other races a diverse group resided there.

If Kymani were awake, he would marvel at it, this time around, not having paid too much attention to his surroundings the last time he was here.

As they continued to move along, a bunch of women and some men, came their way but not for Lavenica or Kymani or the small man, the target of their attention was Sir Bun Bun.

"Look! It's Sir Bun Bun!"

"Please sign my child!"

"Please let me! Have your child!"

"You're a true hero! I wish we had more like you!"

"Ahhhh! He's here! Right in front of me!"

"Honestly, even as a man, I must admit Sir Bun Bun deserves some love... I have no weird intentions or anything..."

"Please Sir Bun Bun, have my garments!"

"You're all crazy! He's obviously not taking any of you."

That and many more comments came his way as they passed through and Sir Bun Bun would really respond or at least react to every single one of them.

*Boom* *Scorch*

It was then as they were moving toward the Royal palace, that an explosion took place at an Inn, and flames rose from it as three masked individuals wearing cloaks jumped out of the window carrying stuffed bags.

"... Oh shit! You gotta be kidding me!... I was told these fuckers wouldn't be back for another week! Hit the run boys!" The first of the men to land on the ground looked at the group coming and immediately gave the others an order.

Following his words, the three of them began running, and just as quickly found themselves on the ground unconscious as Sir Bun Bun looked over, having taken care of it.

"Seriously?! In broad daylight?! What the hell have the Knight Order and the rest of the Royal Knights been doing all this time?!... This is obviously going to fall on me... How delightful." The small man complained as he looked at the scenario play put in front of him with a less than satisfied look on his face and the tone of his voice to match.

Shaking his head after sighing, the small man turned to his man and announced. "We're solving this, leave the 'suspects' to Sir Bun Bun."

Just then they followed the command, leaving Kymani and Lavenica to Sir Bun Bun, then proceeding to go to the Reyha Royal Palace.

From there it wasn't too long before they reached the Palace, they just had to stop a few times for Sir Bun Bun to talk to his fans or stop some random criminal.

If Kymani were awake he would comment on the exceptionally high crime rates they saw on their way.

Finally having arrived at the palace, Sir Bun Bun got them inside after talking to the guards outside.

Immediately upon reaching the inside someone appeared behind Sir Bun Bun and began walking behind him, causing Lavenica who was following to notice them, as its every step made no noise.

It had a slender figure with slight but accentuated curves, only being obstructed by the cloak it was wearing, hiding everything, though the swaying movement of its body was anything but hidden.

This continued as they passed the heavily decorated halls of the palace, full of paintings, vases, and some sort of adornments on the walls. Sir Bun Bun never noticed and Lavenica could not be bothered to care enough for this to say anything.

"Bun Bun Bun?" Sir Bun Bun turned without seeing the figure who stayed behind him emulating his every move in a mocking fashion.

Something felt off for Sir Bun Bun, but seemed he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Ignoring these odd chills, Sir Bun Bun continued to move forward.

It was at that time that the figure shook its head and turned Lavenica, before walking past her and grabbing Kymani's head, and instantly his eyes shot wide open as he clenched onto Lavenica in terror of his sudden awakening.

Not a noise came out of his mouth but the surprise on his face spoke for anything he could have said, as slowly regained awareness of his surroundings and let go of Lavenica.

"Bun Bun Bun!" Sir Bun Bun's bunny ears shot up and he spoke as soon as Kymani woke up.

"Finally! you found me!" Gina spoke and then jumped at Sir Bun Bun climbing onto his back as she began playing with his ears.

"Bun! Bun! Bun!" Sir Bun Bun tried to grab ahold of her, but despite being on his back, Gina was too slippery avoiding his every move without fully letting go of him.

"Come on! You have to admit you like it when I play you, plus it's your fault for having such terrible awareness." Gina responded calmly dodging his hands and making him stumble his way through the hall trying to catch her.

Somehow they avoided breaking anything, but Sir Bun Bun did not seem any happier with the situation.

"BUN! BUN!" He yelled at Gina.

"You should have said that earlier! Of course, I'll take you on your offer. I've been a little too still for the past month, so it's about time to unclog the joints!" Gina jumped off Sir Bun Bun and began walking next to him instead.

Kymani who had just woken up and was walking behind them with Lavenica next to him, could only narrow his eyes at what happened before him cringing at the sight.

Though before any more could be said or done, the ground began trembling, as a 2.0m(7ft) tall humanoid elephant man came to them walking.

"Well, would you look at that, Gina and Sir Bun Bun? I have not seen you two in a minute." The humanoid elephant man said to them as soon as he was close enough.

"Bun Bun Bun." Sir Bun Bun responded.

"Yeah, and after this last expedition, I'm bored and want to have some fun. You down for it? I heard Elephan are a death wish for most other species, now I'm interested!" Gina put her long tongue teaching her chest area out and touched it as she spoke.

"You're an unusual human... Honestly, you almost scare me, but why not? I'm always in for some new experiences. They make for the best memories and stories to tell. Fehehehehhe!" The humanoid elephant man replied before laughing, his trunk sending air out and almost knocking a few things over.

"Also, I need your secret, how do you always smell of peaches?" The humanoid elephant man questioned.

"You can follow me around, maybe you'll find out... Or maybe you won't come back teehee!" Gina answered as she hit her own head with a silly smile on.

"How threatening, I haven't been threatened like that since 6 years ago, how cute of you." The humanoid elephant man mused.

"I'm older than you Elliot! Please treat me as such." Gina pouted as she said.

"Fehehehehhe! That is true, I sometimes forget you're an old hag with that attitude." Elliot smiled as she responded.

"Oh is that so? Would you like to test the battle wisdom of this OLD HAG?" Gina retorted.

"Actually that could be a-" Elliot was not backing down, but was interrupted midway.

"Bun Bun Bun!" Sir Bun Bun tapped both on their backs as he spoke.

"Fine, I'm willing to forget this one. We did agree to go off just a second ago." Elliot smiled.

"We'll have to wait until Lilico does the introduction thing for the last hero here, as expected the slime is the weakest, maybe he isn't the beacon of Nifel... After all, so far he's just the weakest hero." Gina replied.

'weakest? What? How? Also, just who is this bitch? Who are these guys?' Kymani thought to himself as he heard the conversation.

The movement didn't stop as they advanced until they reached a room, and inside there were even more individuals, 8 of them to be more precise. All doing their own things and conversing, paying no mind to those who just came, well almost everyone.

"Gina, you bitch, I haven't seem you since the last time you whored yourself into stealing my fiance! How have you been since then?" A white haired woman wearing only some sort of black sludge that stuck to her body like latex showing every voluptuous asset at her disposal was the first to say something as they came in.

"Yeah, I still regret that one, he was so weak, couldn't even get anything done before passing out, like the twink he was, a total twat if you ask me." Gina responded with a grin on her face.

"Is that so?... How was your brother again? Last I heard of him, he was taking-" Just before the black sludge woman could finish speaking there was a dagger in front of her left eye.

*Clang!*

"Enough! I leave for a few minutes to take care of other things and it just devolves into this every time. Can you not do that?" The small man came in through the door and the dagger stopped mid-air before hitting the black-sludge woman.

Everyone in the room immediately began paying attention as the small man came and silence took over.

{Master... I'll have to focus on something for a while, do call me if you need something though.} Lavenica said.

{Oh... What's going on?} Kymani asked.

{Nothing much, but it will need my focus and some time.} Lavenica responded.

{Ok...} Kymani agreed.

"Anywho, I'm sure you're all aware of why you're here. Just like it was done for the other heroes a few days ago, a small introduction for the last hero will take place right now. So, let us begin. First, there is the 1st Royal Commander Of Reyha, Walter Aris." The small man explained as he called out.

Stepping forward was a humanoid whale man wearing a sort of animal pelt shirt and some basic paddings of similar material on his upper body for protection.

Getting close to Kymani, standing at 2.5m(8ft) height looked down at him and extended his hand to him before saying. "Not bad, I heard of your acts and I have to say, I respect the attitude of just going against the system, fuck it, and just destroy the dungeon. You got some guts, look forward to hearing more about your endeavors. Anyway, the conformist I am, got a lot of work to get done. See ya around kid."

As soon as Kymani shook Walter's hand, he felt an odd emptiness about him, as if he didn't have any mana in him, but there was definitely something there, he just could not pinpoint what or where.

Just like that, Walter pat Kymani on the back and then left the room, shaking the ground a bit less than Elliot did previously.

"So, after that, we have the 2nd Commander, Orion Thridd." The small man continued.

This time, it was a humanoid Orca man wearing similar clothing to Walter who stepped forward and grabbed onto Kymani's shoulder then declared.

"You better be as much of a bloody fighter as the third princess claimed you were, otherwise I'll be a little disappointed. See you on the battlefield, and you better be ready to rip and tear through the enemies. Yehehehehe!"

Not bothering to let Kymani respond in any way, Orion just left.

"Following there's the 3rd commander, Shane Rawrghoul." The small man announced.

The next commander stepped forward and continuing the trend was a humanoid shark man but this one did not touch Kymani and simply said.

"They seem to like you, but I'll see for myself what you're all about. Don't fuck up, way too many people depend on the heroes. Good luck." Shane calmly expressed before walking past and leaving.

"Now unfortunately I have to introduce the next one, The 4th Commander Gina Pepelmonicro." The small man rolled his eyes as he spoke.

Finally taking off her cloak, Gina was revealed to be a red-haired young-looking human woman with light skin full of freckles, wearing a gala dress exposing her back. She was standing at 1.89m(6ft2) with a slender body and petite assets.

"Hey baby, I noticed that you were a bit lacking for someone supposed to be the most dangerous hero." Gina walked up to Kymani and touched his cheek before circling around him and then stopping behind him to lay her head on his shoulder.

Despite his best effort to shrug her off, Kymani was completely stuck like that with no way to do anything about it as his own body would not respond.

'What did she do to me?!... Just what is this woman's problem with me?!' Kymani asked himself in his mind as she tried to move in any way.

"You know, I'm very interested in seeing what you'll be able to do in a year, but that's a bit of time, and if you're not good enough by then, I'll sadly have to kill you... Is that a good motivator? What do you think?... Oh sorry, you're not strong enough to be so close to me without being paralyzed...

"How unusual, I thought a slime wouldn't be affected by something like this... You're such a big disappointment sweetie... You really make me want to kill you now, but as they say, patience is key. Do well baby, and maybe our next meeting will be a little more pleasant." Gina sighed in disappointment and then hugged Kymani before kissing his neck and biting him until blood started coming out, and finally let go of him walked to Elliot, and climbed onto his shoulders.

'.... I don't even know what to think... But I might have to kill this woman someday... Yeah... Let's hope it won't be necessary...' Kymani concluded as he slowly regained control over his body.

"Apologies for her, I would like to do something about it, but she is the best assassin in the continent so... For the time being bear with it. As for the next Commander, you seem to have met a little before the predicted. I present to you, The 5th Commander Elliot Loximir." The small man facepalmed and sighed as he proceeded to the next one.

Having been introduced Elliot came forward and with Gina still on his shoulder just smiling at Kymani.

"So you are the slime hero, and here I thought you were just some random convict, oh well, try to keep a better head on those shoulders, cause there are quite a few already looking forward to your downfall and you're in quite the mess, I hope you're aware how much you, third princess and your follower over there are about to go through. Anyway, I'll be taking my leave. Do better Slime Hero." Elliot warned before taking leave with Gina waving goodbye.

"Bun Bun Bun!" Sir Bun Bun talked to the small man.

"Just go, but be back before it's 27:00, we'll have work by then." The small man replied to him.

While nodding his head, Sir Bun Bun left with Gina and Elliot.

"Anyway moving on, it's my turn, I'm the 6th Commander, Lilico Oddword, at your service. As much as I would prefer if we could skip the pleasantries and go right back to work, so I can rest sooner, things won't be so simple for neither of us. Just as Elliot said, you're not in a good position, at least not one I would like to be in, so be careful." Lilico introduced himself as the next commander.

"What exactly are you talking about?" Kymani at last spoke.

"I can't tell you anything more, just know your trial won't be fun, especially after the trial-by-combat stunt you pulled before... I tried to stop you, but I'm not your babysitter or your friend, you should have known better than to throw yourself at something like that." Lilico responded calmly but sternly as he looked up at Kymani with a blank expression.

(... I see... He rejected to try and help me not make things worse for myself... He could have been a little more adamant about it, but as he said, he has no obligation to try and help me.) Kymani nodded upon hearing Lilico's words.

"Going on, the 7th commander, Horise Ollow." Lilico announced the next one.

This time it was a humanoid hoarse man, and he was wearing pants and heavy-plated armor with no helmet.

"As usual with the Gonme man, you need to loosen up! As for you slime boy, I recommend getting Princess Merilyn, that dark elf girl and running away... Then again you're not strong enough... Forget that. Good luck for the trial anyway. As for you Lilico, don't forget to loosen up and relax more." Horise advised as he bro hugged Kymani before leaving.

'Even though I saw it so many times today... Actually standing in from of beings with animals heads and legs with human-like bodies will never not be a little uncomfortable... According to Lavy, all of these individuals fall under the umbrella of Beastmen.

'As any cultured man would I ask, I needed to know about Cat Girls, and apparently, those with small animal features like those are all considered demi-humans. So at long last, the Cat Girls are real!' At that time tears of happiness fell from Kymani's eyes.

"Forget anything he said, that man does not think outside of battle. As for the next one, it's as expected the 8th commander, Joyrine N-th." Lilico continued.

The one to walk forth was a young woman covered in black bandages all over her body, wearing a blue top and black skirt over said bandages, only having space for her eyes to see.

"Hi, Kymani... I saw that was your name. Anyway, I think you're going to be one hell of dangerous person in due time. So, I recommend that when you can, go to the Dojo Of Romo Ye, he might be able to help you more than anyone here... Even your servant girl... She's an odd create... I've never seen a soul so similar to another before... Don't go to the blood forest with her or allow news of her presence to reach that place.

"As for the being inside your soul... Be very careful and listen but don't trust it. For now, that's all I can tell you... Oh, actually before I forgot... I'm single, that's all you need to know for now." Joyrine said a lot more than anyone expected, then just left while doing the call me to sign to Kymani.

"I don't think I've ever seen her talk so much..." Lilico was confused as were the rest of the commanders there.

'Was she a mummy? But even more important did she just hit on me?... I mean... Now that I think about it she was kind of cute.' As expected of a virgin's mind Kymani was easily swayed by basic straightforward interest in him, not even paying attention to the rest of the things she said.

"Ok, we're close to ending this, so next is the 9th Commander, Helia Ards." Lilico pointed at a box on the ground as he talked.

Then the Box began floating to Kymani and out of it came a head of a rather small woman similar to Lilico himself.

"I'm... Huh... Yeah like he said... Nice to meet you... So, if you need stuff I'm pretty good with most things, and you can just come to my room... But not in that way... Yo-You know what I mean... Huh... BYE!" Helia stumbled her way through whatever she was trying to say and floated away inside her box.

"Now the 10th Commander, Perlia together with her Squires, Kina, and Liomy Stingbee." Lilico moved on.

The woman covered in black sludge came forward and looked Kymani up and down before doing the same for Lavenica.

"You have a way to go before you earn being a hero, I hope you live up to that, until then do me a favor and never appear in front of me." Perlia smiled as she spoke before leaving without a second thought.

Even smaller than Lilica and Helia, Kina and Liomy were twin fairies the size of a palm.

"Weak... I'm not talking to him, sister." Kina immediately decided as she crossed her arms and pouted.

"Fine... Hi! Lucky Luck with the trial and you should definitely go for Joyrine, she's a virgin just like you and your servant... Well, the only one among the commanders aside from my sister." Liomy began shooting her words everywhere.

""I'm not-"" In unison, both Kymani and Kina tried to retort, while Lavenica could not care less.

"I'm a fairy, I know this... You should know sis... Anyway, since my sister is a tad embarrassed we can continue this conversation another time. Also before you ask, I was not lying about Joyrine... I know what I'm talking about." Liomy winked at Kymani and left with her sister.

(This is a weird day... These people all have something wrong in their heads.) Kymani concluded feeling tired about all this.

"Finally after all that, we've got someone you already know, the 11th Commander, Rana Gallo." Lilico declared.

"Kid! You frickin dumbass! What were you thinking to just run off and do all this!? Do you have any idea how worried the other kids got because of you and the girl?!... I hope you learn something from this or we might just be destined to have one hero less than the rest." Rana yelled at Kymani then sighed and left saying no more.

'Worried?... That's a bit much no...' Kymani thought to himself.

"Before we take you two to confinement, there's one more person who's interested in meeting you, I hope you survive." Lilico expressed.

And just then the room became much warmer than before as the temperature continuously rose, and the sound of footsteps could be heard as a red-haired middle-aged man wearing a fancy suit and carrying a cane in his right hand.

"Would you look at that? A slime taking the form of a hobgoblin, a marital hobgoblin at that... How curious is that? Hehehehe!... It almost feels like you're not really a slime." The middle-aged man looked at Kymani as he spoke.

"The man before you is Ophrit Rearto Rouge, the Vice-Grand Commander Of the Reyha Royal Army." Lilico clarified.

{That name... Isn't that the one Rakuia mentioned in her story?... This man...} Kymani frowned.

"Let me tell you this, no matter how much power you think you can gain or how much you've been promised, the reality is that you're not someone yet aside from a title given to you on a silver platter, and what has it got you so far?" Ophrit questioned.

"Apparently it's been a month since I got here, but unfamiliarity made things a bit tougher than they had to be." Still frowning Kymani replied.

"Is that so?... Then you won't mind if I tell you about your place. You're not here for yourself, at least not until you complete your task. Up to that point, I hope you will never give me a reason to take things into my own hands, cause when I do... You'll end up burning in flames hotter than hell itself. I just wanted you to know. Good luck, son." Ophrit smiled and turned around leaving.

(Hot! HOT! I need water! WATER!) Kymani was holding onto his neck on his knees as the heat weighed on his body like a steamroller flattening him into oblivion.

"It seems you survived." Lilico put water on Kymani as he came to him.

Right after, Lilico began taking them to a different place, and while that was going on.

{Master! We have a problem! I thought I could solve this while you were talking to the commanders, but things got out of hand!} Lavenica suddenly came in with worry and hurry in her tone.

{Wait... What's going on?!} Kymani inquired.

{Its the-... Master, what happened to your neck?} Lavenica asked as her focus turned to Kymani.

{It's not important right now! What is going on?!} Kymani insisted.

{Yes, the homunculi body is having problems and developing in different ways from what was expected... At this rate, it will be completely useless to create a proper human body.} Lavenica almost explained.

{... Oh, that's fine... I'm sure you'll be able to use it in some other way, whatever the case, we can talk about it later. Right now there's quite a bit going on, can you do that?} Kymani said to her.

{Yes, there are other ways to use it and I can do it.} Lavenica replied.

{Thanks, you're the best.} Kymani smiled.

{On second thought, it seems-} Lavenica widened her eyes, and her tone got high.

At that time, as he and Lavenica were talking mentally, Lilico told Lavenica to enter a room, then closed it before locking the door and Kymani lost connection with her for the first time.

{Lavy? LAVY?? LAVY?!?!} Kymani panicked and tried to turn to check on her but Lilico didn't allow him, knocking him out before he could explain anything.

-Later-

Kymani opened his eyes and found himself in a closed room, on top of a bed.

(I was knocked out...) He began remembering.

"LAVY!" when it finally hit him.

{Hey! Hey!! HEY!!!} Kymani tried once again to talk to her but there was no response.

After trying for a while he laid down on his bed and began looking at the ceiling with little care in his eyes.

"What now?" He asked himself out loud.

{You move your ass to tell me what's happened while I was gone!} He then heard a voice talk to him telepathically.

{Lavy??!} His first reaction took action before he could even fully process what he heard.

{Lavy?! Who the hell is that?! Do you even recognize greatness when it's right in front of you?! Give me a break! What are you? crazy?} Appearing right in front of Kymani was a white-haired woman dressed in black and red with a demonic smile full of sharp teeth and eyes constantly changing colors in some sort of hypnotic cycle.

It was none other than the start of this journey...

{Yuyu?!} The Goddess Of Chaos and Sin in the flesh or more accurately spirit?