The wind whispered through the desolate cliffs, carrying dust and the faint echo of something ancient, something restless.
The Mercenaries of Mayhem sat around a dying campfire, faces lit in orange glow, silence heavier than the air.
The doll sat on a rock, legs dangling, arms crossed like an annoyed scholar.
"I should explain something else," it said.
They looked up.
"Since so much time has passed, the physical bodies of the Seven Sins—those Demon Kings—have most likely perished. Their vessels decayed, their flesh crumbled. What's left now is spirit."
"Spiritual energy?" Kain asked.
The doll nodded. "Yes. Pure essence of ancient evil. Thought. Emotion. Will. That's all they need."
Derek narrowed his eyes. "And they escaped when we broke the seal."
"Yes," the doll confirmed. "Fled. Scattered. Possibly to places of power. Places they remember. Or places filled with their aligned desire."
Bam rubbed his forehead. "How do we stop them?"
The doll hesitated.
"…I don't know."
That silence returned—this time, heavier.
Marcus looked around. "So… we're chasing near-immortal entities with no plan, no weapons to kill them, and no idea where they went?"
Bob nodded solemnly. "Sounds like one of our usual jobs."
But Derek stepped forward, gaze steady.
"We broke the seal. Whether by accident or not… we're responsible."
He looked at each of them in turn.
"This isn't a small mistake. These Sins… they could bring destruction we can't even imagine. This could spread across kingdoms. Or worse."
The doll tilted its stitched head—and for the first time, smiled.
"Well. Finally. A reasonable one."
He looked toward the horizon. "I was starting to think I'd ended up with a party of goblins in bad armor."
"Close enough," Marcus muttered.
"So first thing's first," Derek said. "We head back to Border Town. Settle things with the Holy Empire. They still want the Eye. If we don't deal with that now, we'll have two disasters chasing us."
Bam nodded. "One army at a time."
Kain, still leaning on his staff, looked to the glowing Arcane Eye embedded in his socket. "I'll return it. I promised."
He exhaled slowly.
"And… I'm part of this too now. I helped cause it. I want to help fix it. And maybe—learn more about what the world's forgotten history."
The doll stood—well, shuffled dramatically. "I'll help as best I can. I might be stuffed and stitched, but I've got the memories of a dozen dead sages whispering in here."
"Do they say anything useful?" Marcus asked.
"No," the doll deadpanned. "Mostly complaints."
By sunrise, the group was packed and moving westward again.
The temple was gone.
The sins were free.
And the road ahead was long and unknown.
But for once… they walked with purpose.
To redeem what had been broken.
To settle a war they didn't start.
And to face the darkness that now walked the world again.