What a dick.

All the retainers thought (yes, even the two older men, Kento and Alessandro). Achilles asked Damaris if she was okay, which she told him not to worry about her and continue on.

“The meticulous underboss, Alessandro!”

Minerva gave her retainer a nod, as she fixed her helm. Alessandro gave the bracer to Achilles and shouted the noble name of Minevra.

“AD-VEN-TO, The Commander of Wisdom!”

He finished and looked back at the rest of the humans, tipping his hat to them and jumping in the portal. Freya started to rub her arms and shiver a bit. “That guy gives me the creeps.” Charlie couldn’t disagree, something about that well-dressed older man was causing Charlie’s senses to go haywire. That man was dangerous.

Achilles called Nuada up, who arrived with the angels that carried the homunculus body. Nuada placed the bracer on the right arm of the homunculus, the angels then pulled the body up to Achilles who placed his hand on the glass shards of João that were in the body's chest.

“The savior of the Machado family, the new Celtic legend, Am Fear os cionn fir João… return from oblivion,” Achilles whispered into the homunculus. The plain face of the homunculus started to twist and turn and look like João. João started to spasm and the violently shake. The angels could barely hold the body.

“Lord Lugh, what the hell’s going on with your king’s retainer?” Ariel asked.

Lugh said nothing and watched silently; he was analyzing the situation and trying to understand exactly what Nuada was planning.

“Why did Achilles call this human the new Celtic legend, Am Fear os cionn fir?”

Achilles then touched his temple and fed him the information he needed to know to catch him up.

“You have two minutes before your homunculus body dies out here. Say the noble name and jump into the Fantasia world, quickly,” Achilles said softly. He and Nuada had grabbed João's body from the angels who couldn’t hold João's body from all the shaking.

João’s mind and soul was still distorted, his memories were also jumbled up. He didn’t know if he was still with his grandfather or in the eternal oblivion… That’s when it hit him, he wasn’t in the oblivion anymore, and he also didn’t feel the pressure.

For the first time in his existence he felt normal. He turned to Nuada and gave him a hug. Yes, he was naked, but that didn’t matter to João or Nuada. This was the oldest child of the Machado family honoring and thanking Nuada who he thought of as the big brother he wished he always had.

Lugh keep watching. “Something’s not right, Ariel, that human… his soul was destroyed by a deity. That's why he has those shards in his chest. Only a deity could do that to a soul.”

Ariel stood silent and lost in thought like Lugh just was. They been hugging for a while, could someone get this guy some clothes? he thought. He looked at the other retainers. Kento was covering his lady’s eyes by pushing her hand with the fan up.

While Inari tried to get a look still, Audrey had turned around not wanting to look. Aster was looking at his feet and Charlie had his eyes covered by his hands but was peeking through them.

Did Nuada… kill him? Lugh asked himself in his thoughts.

“King Nuada, thank you so much,” João said with endless tears in his eyes.

Nuada also felt his eyes water but he didn’t want anyone to see him cry. “João, I want to thank you as well but we don’t have a lot of time. Head into the Fantasia and we’ll talk for as long as you want,” he said with a smile.

João smiled and wiped the tears on his face. “You got it my king.” He lifted his fist towards Nuada asking for a fist bump, which Nuada returned using his silver arm. He turned to Achilles and shouted out the noble name of his king.

“AD-VEN-TO, The Champion of the Tuatha Dé Danann!”

Achilles quickly went behind João and kicked his back, causing João to fly into the portal. “Sorry, you only had ten seconds left. Good luck out there, kid!” Achilles said with a smile. João gave him and Nuada a thumbs up just as he went into the portal.

“Is the naked dude gone?” Audrey turned around and leaned on Zhong kui with her arms crossed.

“Yes, he is,” Zhong kui said as he stared at the young lady using him as a wall for her to rest on.

“The bright morning star, Aster.”

Achilles looked at Michael and nodded for him to come next. He picked up and Aster and carried him to Achilles. “I need you to speak my or one of my siblings’ noble names. We gave them to you already.”

Aster said nothing.

Michael sighed and whispered into his team’s retainer’s ear. “If you don’t say the name, Lucifer will come and torture you like he did all of your life.” Aster still didn’t move but he shifted his eyes around in fear.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

“Ad-ven-to-” he muttered, “The Sacred Flame from God.” Aster looked at Achilles whose hands shone over the bracer he had. Aster flinched when he saw the light, thinking it was an attack on him. Michael picked Aster up and dropped him into the portal.

“Don’t forget. Pick up the sword, step into the fire, and become who you were supposed to be.”

Achilles looked at Lugh. “The red dragon of San Juan!”

“Pretty cool name, huh? I picked it myself,” Lugh laughed and had a mischievous grin as he nudged Ariel on his side. “Yeah, it suits me just fine.”

Ariel looked back at the crowd and saw the trickster club members with their signs cheering him on. Loki had one that had a silly version of Ariel’s face on it; he gave team Lugh a smile.

Ariel walked past Kento and gave him a respectful nod, he then saw Charlie and Lady Freya. Lugh was lying! He wasn’t a cute girl, he thought as he gave Charlie a respectful nod as well.

As he passed Audrey, the two furrowed their burrows at each other, looking like they were about to duke it out. Zhong kui moved his big body to block Audrey from moving towards the bancho.

“Hey, I dig the hair,” she said as Ariel walked past. “That’s a real man’s cut!” Ariel turned around, thinking that she was just making fun of him. Instead, his face froze when he saw how genuine and nice she looked.

His tan skin started to go red, and he started to stutter in place. Lugh quickly ran and pushed him towards Achilles. “What heck, Ariel. What happened did she attack you with some mystical attack?”

“N-no she just… complimented my hair… I’ve never been complimented before in my life!” he said, still shaken up.

“Ain’t no way, ain’t no way we just lost against another retainer already!” Lugh said.

Achilles quickly grabbed the bracer once Lugh had pushed Ariel close to him; he was rushing Ariel at this point, who was taking way too long. Ariel was able to regain his composure once Achilles was in front of him.

“AD-VEN-TO, Lamhfada, the Child of Light (or Ireland idk which is better)!”

Ariel stepped forward and just as he was about to jump into the portal, he turned back to see the sukeban one last time. Coincidentally, Audrey was called next.

“The fierce Tiger of New York, Audrey.” As she reached Achilles, she gave him a strong high five.

“AD-VEN-TO, The Destroyer of Demons!” She lifted her arm and gave a thumbs up to Zhong kui and jumped into the portal.

“I think you’re next, Charlie, you got this! I know the last few hours I've seemed pretty dumb and lazy, but when Freyr is around I know I can count on him to not make the mistakes I would,” Freya said looking down.

Charlie looked at her and recognized the face she made. She had doubts like Charlie and also acted like he did, putting himself down. “But I promise you, I’m going to be with you the entire time. Just like you want to be a retainer that I deserve…” She paused and then looked Charlie in the eyes. “I want to be a deity that my retainer and my noble einherjar deserves.”

The two smiled at each. “The Underdog Prince, Charlie.”

Charlie proceeded to walk towards Achilles but not till he gave Freya a high five on his way.

“AD-VEN-TO, The Lady of Seidr!” As Charlie shouted, Freya looked on with hope, knowing that she chose the right person to be her retainer.

“Sister.” Freyr’s voice was heard in her mind. “I started the training of my chosen soul. I had to beat it up to help shape its form faster, but the soul’s body is ready. I’ll be training him for the time being, for this to work you and Charlie have to unlock his resolve.”

Freya acknowledged her brother’s message and looked at Achilles who also looked at her and smiled. The Great Rebellion had caused a rift between them that over the years was starting to heal. It was this Tryfing, meeting Charlie and his determinant to change and not be tied to the regrets of his previous life and Achilles understanding and accepting their team, that pushed Freya in the right direction.

She needed to make sure Inari won at all costs. She smiled back at the Greek heroic deity she used to love, and then her heart sank as Father’s favorite angel girl appeared next to him whispering in his ear, giving Achilles a smile that Freya used to give to him.

Maybe I took too long to change, Charlie, she thought.

At last, it was Kento’s turn; the first retainer chosen was the last to enter. As he started to walk towards the portal, his deity spoke one last time

“Where you are starting is far away from the main arena. I may not be able to speak to you until you get closer to the holy land of the Tryfing battlefield. Will you be fine without me for a while? Or should we ask Achilles to change our plans?” Inari waited for Kento to respond, narrowing her eyes at him.

Kento didn’t turn back; instead, he stood and stretched his old back and joints. “Do not worry, my lady. I’ll survive and make it Heloian without your assistance. If I couldn’t do that…” He turned his face to her.

“How could I ask to represent Japan for all of eternity?” Inari smiled at her retainer and his words.

“Japan’s finest, Kento Sanosuke!”

He gave Achilles his old and boney arm. It shook violently in the air waiting for Achilles to grab it.

“AD-VEN-TO, Ta-no-Kami!”

Achilles finished his part and guided the old man to the portal, who gently went in. Going into the portal, it felt like he was flying a hundred miles per hour in a blue vortex of ather. His clothes were gone and his body disintegrated, all that was left was his ethereal form that his soul took.

He heard a voice in his soul speak. “What is the name you wish to have?” Kento remembered the confrontation with Darren, who only said his last name. The last name of a shinsengumi member, his great grandfather’s last name.

“Sanosuke, just Sanosuke.”

The voice then told him the information that Achilles and Damaris fed it: where he was going to be; his age; his sex and race; his role and objectives.

As the voice spoke, Kento looked around and saw two dark orbs moving towards the Fantasia world. He squinted and was able to see roman numerals on the souls.

As if some powerful being branded the Roman numerals directly onto these souls. The closer the dark orbs got to the entrance of Fantasia, the smaller they became.

It was as if their souls and ather were being shaved off into a smaller form for them to be allowed in.

Before he could even say anything, he reached the end of the portal and a white light engulfed him.

///

Sanosuke felt disoriented. His vision finally came back and noticed he was in a room of wood. There were many barrels and other packages and items in the room.

As he turned, he saw a group of people in the corner of the room either sleeping or looking worried. They all looked Japanese and wore Japanese clothing. Little by little he was starting to get his bearings back.

He noticed that the colors he could see were a lot brighter. The weight of age on his shoulders and back were gone, and he noticed he had long hair covering his face. He looked at his wrist and saw that he had a hair tie and tied his hair in a bun.

It took him a few times for his old mind to remember how to do it, but he eventually got it. He went to the group of people and as he was about to ask them where this was when his memories of the Fantasia world entered his mind.

He was on a boat heading to Helioan at the age of fifteen and the people here were also foreigners, like him making the dangerous trip. He had a few things he brought with him and went to make sure they were still intact. Just as he was going over his memories and items, the door of the room opened and three sailors walked in.

“Alright you good for nothin’s, time to get to work,” the middle sailor said. The foreigners started to speak in their language, which sounded very closely to Japanese.

“What? But we paid for the trip, why should we work!”

One of the sailors had a stick and hit one of the wooden beams “Either speak the common tongue or shut it. You should be privileged that we don’t sell you to the slavers of Noin.” One of them looked at Sanosuke who was standing up away from the others. “Oy brat, who said you could stand up? We told all of you to stay in the corner like good little rats.”

“These people sa—We paid for the ride to reach Helioan, no one told us we had to work on the boa—” The wooden stick slapped Sano across the face; it hurt like hell and red flashed across his vision. Sanosuke could have dodged the attack but he knew he couldn’t cause a scene just yet.

“The rat over here speaks the common tongue quite well. Grab that rat and let him do all the work for the other rats.”

The people looked concerned but were too scared to say anything or stand up for Sanosuke. As the two sailors picked him off of the ground, he looked at the other foreigners and gave them a small smirk and nod and spoke in their language.

“I’ll take care of all the work. Count on me.”

The sailors dragged Sano up with no care. They manhandled him and then threw him on the deck of the ship. As he stood his vision finally settled in, and he saw the clear blue morning sky and the vast sea that looked endless.

He walked to the edge of the ship and stared down at the sea and could see his youthful appearance in the reflection. He was here. He was in the Fantasia world and he was finally living his dream of being a retainer in the Tryfing.

He wasn’t the crazy old samurai. He was Sanosuke, the retainer of Lady Inari.

He licked the blood that was on his lip and smiled.

Isekai Royale: God’s game

Part 1 END

The Prologue to the third Tryfing has finally come to a close. Now the story can truly begin, you know the players, you know the backgrounds. Heck, you’ve seen our mortal enemy and the small, but insane, faction of power that he controls. From here on out it's going to be a wild ride, can you handle the dangers? The heartbreak, the effort, and the victories that are to come?

I, Achilles, ask you…

Do you heed the call? To see the 3rd Tryfing until the very end?

Put your faith in your deity…. AND YOURSELF!

Part 1 End

The Selection Phase Prologue

Next up, Part 2: Journey Through the Fantasia World

Heed the call and fight for your cause.