The dust hadn't even settled before Kain exploded.
"I cannot believe you broke it!" he shouted, pointing a shaking hand at Bob. "Do you have any idea what I could've learned from that temple?! Centuries of untouched magical history, and you treat it like a candy stand!"
Bob frowned. "I said it looked like dessert, not that it was one."
"You bumped the pedestal!"
"I turned around!"
Bam stepped between them. "Okay, let's all calm down before someone gets lit on fire—"
"I should light him on fire!" Kain snapped.
Marcus was pacing. "Guys… uh… you're missing the big picture. We released something. The temple's gone. The portal is gone."
Derek stood silently, scanning the ruined cliffside where the portal had collapsed into a pile of rubble.
Then—
A voice.
"You really are all complete idiots."
The group froze.
Weapons were drawn. Fire ignited in Bam's hand.
They spun around, eyes darting—but saw no one.
"Down here," the voice added, flat and furious.
They looked.
Sitting cross-legged on a rock, arms folded and wearing a scowl that could curdle milk—
was the doll.
The same ugly, handmade doll that had been lying beside the skeleton in the temple.
It was now very much awake.
And angry.
"GHOST!" Marcus shrieked.
"POSSESSED TOY!" Bam shouted, fireball growing.
Bob backed up slowly. "We kill it, right? That's what we do?"
"Try, and I melt your face," the doll said.
Everyone froze again.
The doll let out a long, exasperated sigh.
"I'm not a ghost. Not exactly. I'm—or I was—human. I don't remember much. Not even my name. But I know one thing for sure."
His black button eyes gleamed faintly.
"Before I died, I used magic to bind my last spark of consciousness to this doll… just in case the seal ever broke."
Derek lowered his sword slightly. "Why?"
The doll looked at the horizon.
"To warn the next generation. Which, apparently, is you lot."
They gathered around him cautiously.
Bam raised a hand. "So… what did we just release?"
The doll's stitched mouth twitched.
"You released the Seven Deadly Sins."
Silence.
"…The what?" Marcus asked.
"The primal spirits of evil desire," the doll said. "Each one is the embodiment of one of humanity's darkest instincts: Wrath. Envy. Sloth. Greed. Pride. Lust. Gluttony."
Bob raised a hand. "Do they all attack at once, or is it more of a turn-based thing?"
The doll ignored him.
"They were the nemesis of humanity in the Ancient Era, when demons still walked the world. Real demons," he added, glancing at Kain.
Kain's brows furrowed. "Wait—demons are real? I thought they were legends."
"They were real in our time," the doll said. "And dangerous. Back then, magic thrived. We had floating cities, world-bending spells, enchanted weapons that could split mountains. Demons couldn't invade easily. So they… adapted."
"How?" Derek asked.
The doll's button eyes darkened.
"Seven Demon Kings sacrificed their own bodies, performing a forbidden ritual to trap the Primordial Sins inside themselves—using that power to wage war against humanity."
Kain whispered, "They became the sins."
The doll nodded grimly. "Their power skyrocketed. But so did their madness. It took the combined strength of nearly every mage alive to seal them. And even then… we knew the seal might one day break."
Bam whistled. "Guess what, guys. We're that day."
The group collectively groaned.
"So," Marcus said. "Any chance this is just a metaphor? Like, maybe the black smoke was… symbolic?"
The doll gave him a slow, lifeless stare.
"I hate all of you," it said.
Kain slumped against a tree. "What do we do now?"
The doll stood—well, wobbled—and looked out across the wasteland.
"Now? We hunt them."