I'm the Spider - Chapter 28: Turning Back

WPC July 2023 Winner.

When the Demons and Angels of the 99th floor detected a threat to their reign, they teamed up to topple the man who'd placed them in such a situation.

The Lord of Sins, a walking calamity of the Heaven's Spire, had put pressure on the transcendents no mortal had ever done.

However, before the Lord of Sins could revolt against their reign, the Demons and Angels decided to nip the threat in the bud.

Manipulating his clanmates, using other clans, controlling fate...

They used all powers available to them in an attempt to halt the advance of the Lord of Sins. Eventually, it worked, and the Lord of Sins fell from grace.

But it wasn't a happy ending for the vicious transcendents.

“I'll return one day, stronger than ever and as a force even you can't touch! I'll become the Lord of Sins again!”

The man returned to the past with a goal in mind.

Everything else was just an interference.

“Return of The Strongest Player” is a gripping tale of a man's ascendance. His journey back to the pinnacle of strength, the adversities blocking his path, and the comrades he eventually acknowledged.

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Betrayed by the kingdom he bled for. Executed by the brother he once protected. Daemon died a war hero—branded a monster.But death isn’t the end. Not for him.Reborn on the day of his cursed birth, under the same blood-drenched eclipse, Daemon remembers everything: the lies, the poison, the crown soaked in his mother’s blood. This time, he won’t beg. He won’t protect.He’ll burn the empire from the inside out.His twin brother Gabriel—the golden child, the “righteous” king—stole everything. So Daemon will take it all back, piece by piece.The nobles who cheered at his execution? Dead.The soldiers who held him down? Ash.The kingdom that worshipped a fraud? Buried under screams.This isn’t about justice. This is about revenge, and Daemon’s not stopping until his brother’s skin hangs from the palace gates.The empire made a monster.Now it gets to meet him.

A conversation with a handsome stranger leaves Ariane chained in a cellar with a strange affliction. She soon discovers that the darkness of the nineteenth century’s Deep South hides many dangers. Mages, wolf shifters and the humans who hunt them play a risky game where to stumble is to die, all under the amused gaze of the apex predators of the supernatural world: vampires.

It is never healthy to attract the gaze of the aristocracy of the night. It takes much to survive in this merciless world, but Ariane will not let that deter her. The southern belle has a bite, and she is willing to learn and to grow in this hostile new world. She will use whatever means necessary to reclaim her freedom, be it guile, charm, or those intriguing new instincts that make blood so delectable.

This is a story of vampires as I believe they should be, with their strengths and weaknesses, with their remnants of humanity and the beast inside. Updates every Friday. Mind the tags.

Cover by Antti Hakosaari: https://www.artstation.com/haco

Special thanks to Svensonsen for getting me started, as well as Omi Nya, Hesketh, Rhaegar, Yaksher, Selkie and Raven for proofreading my stuff. Thanks to my patrons and you dear readers, for the support. I could not do it without you.

Journey is on Amazon, both in ebooks and audio. here is a link to the first one:

https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B08DK6G8Y8

The story probably exists in your local marketplace as well of I can tempt you.