The Seven Deadly Sins reappeared ten years later in the kingdom, having regathered six of its members over a short duration. The group was directly under the Great Holy Knight Zaratras' command. The Seven Deadly Sins before the betrayal were widely known as the strongest knights of Liones and were greatly admired by several Holy Knights and apprentices, including Little Gil and Doting Dale. One of the Seven Deadly Sins' feats includes defeating the troll queen, with them having also broken the Great Druid Altar.
It is later revealed that Merlin was the perpetrator, and was due to Meliodas losing himself to his anger when young Elizabeth got hurt trying to help him escape. It was initially suspected that one of the members was a traitor who helped in the nefarious plot, as Meliodas was knocked unconscious shortly after issuing his order. Meliodas ordered the group to disperse to avoid capture, and everyone was able to escape separately. They found him murdered through no fault of their own and were quickly surrounded by the kingdom's Holy Knights. They were declared as traitors and villains after being framed for assassinating Zaratras, the Great Holy Knight, after heeding an order to meet up with him at the castle. The members of this group were originally an independent order of knights serving the kingdom of Liones. Hearing this, both Meliodas and Merlin (who was only known to Meliodas at the time) took it upon themselves to find the other five, in order to crush the Ten Commandments, should they ever be revived. The king of Liones had a premonition through his power Vision, that they would become the kingdom's protectors.
Unbeknownst to even most of its members, the Seven Deadly Sins were formed for the expressed purpose of defeating the Demon Clan's Ten Commandments.