Capital of the Dead arc

The Capital of the Dead arc (死者の都編, Shisha no Miyako-hen) is the fourth story arc of the series. It lasted 10 chapters, from Chapter 17 to Chapter 26.

Description
Having found three Sins, the group seeks out King, the Grizzly Sin of Sloth, who is said to be resting in the Capital of the Dead. The group soon encounters him, but the reunion doesn't go as planned. King is working with the Holy Knights in order to kill Ban, who he blames for his sister's death. King and the others eventually make their way into the Capital of the Dead, where Ban is reunited with King's sister, Elaine. The Holy Knight Guila uses this opportunity to engage the Sins in combat, and they are quickly overwhelmed by her strength. While the Sins defend against Guila, King learns about what happened between his sister and Ban.

Fights and Events

 * Meliodas vs. Oslow
 * Ban vs. King (Part 1)
 * Ban vs. King (Part 2)
 * Meliodas, Diane & Ban vs. Guila
 * King vs. Guila

Synopsis
Three days later, and after Elizabeth's complete recovery, the Boar Hat, and the group, now including Ban, leave Dalmary Town. Meliodas decides not to head towards the Kingdom's capital yet, but instead, they move further away. On the road, they are confronted by two Holy Knight apprentices, with one known as Andre. When they plan to fool the Holy Knights failed and a Black Hound came and killed them off, Meliodas intimidates the Black Hound with his Broken Blade's powers and it runs away. We then return to an unknown village where one of the other Sins is revealed. His name is King, and he is working with Gilthunder. He is also the master of the Black Hound named Oslow, who told him about the Sins. Gradually, the characters arrive at a lonely village that is said to be the closest to the Capital of the Dead. Meliodas decides to open the Boar Hat's bar in order to earn some money for food, and begins giving everyone roles. Ban begins complaining about working, and just as everyone is about to begin working, they discover that Ban has left.

Ban heads into town and discovers a little girl, named Ellen, who promptly collapses. Ban races to her side. The girl's brother, believing that Ban is harming her, attacks him with a pitchfork. When he learns of the truth, he apologetically asks Ban how he can "erase his sin", with Ban commenting that a real sin can never be erased. As soon he finishes his statement, Ban is suddenly stabbed in the chest with a spear by King. Ban and King end up having a fight with one another. Ban prepares to utilize a special ability, but Meliodas quickly finds Ban and stops him. Ban is completely shocked when when he learns that the person he is fighting is King, and refuses to believe it. Later, after King escapes, Ban cooks a meal in the Boar Hat. The children, when questioned about the Capital of the Dead, inform them that King has also tried many times to enter it. When asked how to enter, Ellen recites a riddle, stating that a priceless memory shared with the deceased will open the path to the capital. Seeming to understand, Ban thanks them, and the group heads to the entrance to the Capital.

At the location of the entrance, the group notices that flowers have suddenly and mysteriously bloomed; the petals of the flowers begin to swirl around them in a circular fashion, transporting them to the Capital of the Dead. Right before they are transported, however, King, who was watching from the bushes, races into the tornado of flowers after them. Ban immediately notices a girl and rushes in her chase, with King, in turn, following Ban. While Ban was away chasing the girl, a Holy Knight named Guila appears. She reveals that she killed herself to get there, and, noticing how dangerous she was, Meliodas told Elizabeth to escape with Hawk while he and Diane fight her. Guila attacks. In response, Meliodas draws his broken blade and utilizes Full Counter against Guila, who reveals that she knows the ability. As Ban was chasing the girl, King catches up to him, and King and Ban end up having another fight. King narrates how, after being chased out of Liones, he returned to his hometown in the Fairy King's Forest, only to discover that it had been burned to the ground, with the Fountain of Immortality missing. Ban, being immortal, is the supposed culprit. He then traps Ban by transforming his pillow into a giant stuffed bear, and angrily reveals that the Guardian Saint that Ban killed was his sister, Elaine. When Ban, in response, declares that he is immortal, King uses a form of his sacred treasure that petrifies whatever it impales. Ban's skin around the impaled area becomes stone.

After Ban turns completely into a statue and King has left the body behind, King notices spheres of light approaching Ban, and he recognizes the spheres to be Elaine. She kisses Ban in order to break King's curse. They exchange their greetings, but King confusedly yells at them, questioning whether Elaine was still angry at him for leaving her and his kingdom. The three are distracted by a huge explosion some distance away. Now noticing that a Holy Knight has arrived, Ban proceeds to head there, but only before telling Elaine that he will "take back what's his". To King's surprise, this makes Elaine very happy. Ban ends up joining the fight, but even with Ban on the team, they were getting badly hurt. King continues questioning Elaine as to why she forgave Ban and not him, but Elaine explained to him why she couldn't forgive King so easily. Before King says anything else, Elizabeth and Hawk run by while trying to escape from Guila. King asks who they are, so Elizabeth and Hawk introduce themselves and tell King that they are currently traveling with Meliodas. Elizabeth tells him what is happening on the battlefield. She asks King to help her, but when he refuses, Elizabeth bravely tells him to run away instead and tries to borrow his spear to fight against Guila. Feeling inspired by Elizabeth's bravery, King levitates his spear and heads to the battle.

As the battle continues, the Sins appear to be losing. Then, King arrived and offers to help them. He fights Guila alone. King defeated Guila with ease. Elaine reveals that King is actually the Fairy King Harlequin. King then turns away from the defeated Guila, but Guila gets out of the rubble and attacks King. King is saved by Meliodas, and notices that Guila's presence has left. Suddenly, King, along with the rest, are rejected by the capital, being slowly dissolved and returned to the living wold. Elaine thanks him for protecting Ban before they leave. When they return, they see how Guila got to the capital of the dead. King then volunteers to petrify her, but Meliodas says that he will "handle it". When they get back to the Boar's Hat, they wonder where the children are and King wonders if Guila did something. The children appear before King and Ban, revealing that they are actually from the Capital of the Dead, and disappear.

Afterwards, everyone is seen eating fish, when King asks if Diane is okay. She says that she is. Ban then says that she was faking it to get Meliodas' attention, to which King yells at him and responds that Diane wouldn't do that. King then asks who Elizabeth is. Meliodas reveals that she is the princess of the kingdom. King is shocked, turning into his previous, significantly larger form. King then introduces himself. They tell him that he can turn back, and King returns to his form, exhausted from the mental effort of switching forms. King then almost gets into an argument with Ban, and Meliodas stops them. Elizabeth then compliments King on his fight against Guila, which King says that the other should have been able to defeat with the sacred treasures. King then asks what happened to their sacred treasure, and he is shocked when he hears what happen to them.

Story Impact

 * King agrees to join the Seven Deadly Sins to search for the rest of the members.
 * Ban and King reunite with Elaine in the Capital of the Dead for a short duration.
 * Guila fights against the Deadly Sins in the Capital of the Dead.
 * The capabilities of the Sacred Treasures is revealed by King.
 * The fate of several Sacred Treasures is revealed: Meliodas sold his, Ban's was taken by the Weird Fangs and Diane just lost hers.