The novel takes place in a parallel world. The main hero is the immortal gladiator Marcellus. He is doomed to live forever, to fight forever, to die day after day—and then be reborn again. Because he is a devil, and a devil has no right to die. “I picked up the halberd and raised my eyes at the raging stands. They were all free people, all of them had the right. The right to die. All of them—except us. We were devils. Immortals. Sometimes gladiators, sometimes slaves in the mines. The lowest caste. Scum…”