The demon was gone—its twisted body unraveled by Excalibur's strike—but something remained.
A faint, light blue wisp hovered in the air, flickering softly like a dying ember.
"What is that?" Bam asked, wiping sweat from his brow.
"The core," the doll muttered. "That's Sloth's spiritual essence—what's left of the Sin, separated from the demon king's body. It's trying to flee."
As they watched, the blue light drifted upward, slowly moving away like it was sneaking off, hoping no one would notice.
It didn't get far.
The doll suddenly leapt off Bob's shoulder, hit the ground with a soft thud, and raised both stitched arms.
"Not today, slacker."
A quick burst of binding glyphs erupted in midair, snapping around the floating wisp with a crackle of ancient energy. The blue essence flickered wildly, trying to escape.
The doll scanned the area. "I need a vessel. Something passive… something simple… something slow…"
His eyes landed on a gray cat sitting nearby.
The feline blinked at him.
"Perfect."
Before the others could react, the doll flung the spiritual energy downward. The blue wisp zipped straight into the cat's body.
The cat twitched once.
Then slumped.
It flopped onto its side like someone had flipped its off switch, tail flicking once, then not at all.
"…Meow," it mumbled faintly, not even opening its eyes.
The group stared.
"You just sealed a Sin inside a cat?" Marcus asked.
"Yes," the doll said proudly. "It was nearby. It works."
The cat rolled over slowly, stared at them with half-lidded eyes, then went right back to napping.
Bob crouched beside it. "Wait—is it Sloth making the cat lazy, or…"
"No difference," the doll muttered.
Derek tilted his head. "It doesn't seem dangerous."
"Cats," the doll said, "were already operating on Sloth-tier energy. This is more of a merge than a possession."
Bam watched as the cat tried to stretch and gave up halfway through. "So now it's just… ultra lazy?"
"Exactly," the doll nodded. "Still sealed. Still safe. And it'll probably nap for the next hundred years."
Bob scratched his head. "Do we keep it?"
"No," Marcus said flatly.
"Yes," Bob said, already scooping the cat into his arms. "I'm naming him Dusty."
The cat meowed once, then went back to sleep midair.
With the Sin sealed and no further demonic presence detected, the village gradually returned to normal.
The once-languid villagers were now active again—confused, but regaining their strength and clarity. Animals were rounded up, tools were taken back into hands, and the old energy of the village returned.
The village head, now standing straighter, met them at the gate.
"I don't know what you did," he said, "but thank you. I've never seen so much hard work happen all at once."
"You're welcome," Derek replied simply.
"Try to keep the work going," the doll said. "Trust me—it helps."
With goodbyes exchanged and Sloth now sealed inside a particularly indifferent feline named "Dusty," the group headed out of the village, spirits lighter, cat in tow.
The road ahead was long.
And five Sins remained.