Larry Elvis hauls garbage at four in the morning to pay for his mother's cancer treatment. He has one skill outside of that job: he is the only player alive to have defeated all twelve champions in War Heroes Reborn, a brutal virtual combat game set in ancient Rome. When an anonymous message offers him one hundred thousand dollars to enter a private tournament, he accepts without hesitation. The moment he puts on the headset, he cannot take it off. The game is real. The fighters remember him. And every loss makes them stronger. Larry has eleven days before his mother's next treatment and twelve fights standing between him and the exit.

Betrayed by his own clan and murdered for his gift, John Duncan wakes inside the body of an abandoned infant, carrying every memory of his past life. Raised by a guardian with a hidden history, John grows up hunted by the same bloodline that killed him once already. As he uncovers the truth behind a mark burned into his skin, he learns his family's ambitions reach far beyond succession. A sealed power, an ancient betrayal, and a scattered group of children like him stand between John and the life the Duncan Clan stole from him twice. This time, he intends to make them pay.