The Cult of Slumbering Paradise is an interesting case of a self-perpetuating organization. The group believes that the only way to stop the Cycle from continuing ad infinitum is to stop the perpetrators. To this end, they’re attempting to end all sentient life on the planet. What’s strange, however, is that the cult appears to exist in every cycle; even before any evidence of the cult from previous cycles is uncovered.
The great evil that the four heroes of the Path conquered? That was the Slumbering Paradise in their cycle.