[Butcher]
That was the name they gave him when he arrived at this school.
He never knew his parents had sold him like livestock, that his life—or death—would never matter to anyone here.
At first, they had high hopes for him.
Then disappointment.
Then dismissal—until they realized he could at least keep the "dogs" in line.
He didn't understand why sometimes he was allowed to eat as much "dog meat" as he wanted, and other times starved.
But he knew his duties:
Patrol the halls.
Guard the "dogs" from outsiders.
His mind was simple. He didn't question.
Then one day, a "dog" spoke to him.
She wasn't afraid.
She gave him food—coarse bread, warm like his mother used to make.
A strange feeling stirred in him.
He used to love dogs.
Used to let them lick his fingers, run beside him.
But his father, a butcher, taught him to kill them instead.
This "dog" was different.
She smiled at him.
So he decided to keep her.
He watched as the other "dogs" bullied her.
Watched her silence in class, her relief only when she saw him.
Then one day, her clothes dirtied, her expression hardened, she told him:
"Uncle, I'm going to change things."
Her home was gone. She would live at school now.
Days later, she stabbed a bully to death.
"You can handle this, right?"
Her smile was the same—but colder.
"They call me a shrine maiden for yokai. Fine. Let me be one."
"No one escapes this school anyway."
"At least this way... it won't hurt as much."
And so, everything changed.
He watched, as he always did.
Until that day came.
Present.
The Butcher's rotting corpse shuddered, stood, its belly splitting open—
—dog heads bursting forth, howling, pushing against each other in the gore.
Fur sprouted across its body, teeth sharpening into jagged rows.
The collective fear of three student generations had warped it beyond humanity.
It opened its maw—
BANG!
Takakai shot first, barrage of bullets slamming it down.
"ROAR—!"
The beast rolled, lurched up—
—but Takakai was already moving, strafing its blind spot, firing again.
Analysis:
Sealing Hachiya Chiyo weakened the Butcher's corpse.
Dungeon layers merging drew the spectral Butcher back into its body.
Student distortions fully manifested—hence the... this.
What the hell were these kids imagining?!
"Mission start."
The policeman and firefighter materialized, tackling the Butcher, sending it crashing through the floor.
Takakai didn't let it see him—avoiding the dog transformation rule.
Then—
"Arf! Arf!"
A golden retriever leaped into his arms, licking his face furiously.
A husky approached calmly, dropping a faded photo at his feet.
A black-and-white picture of the orphanage family.
"You found it?!"
The key to resolving Chiyo's Obsession—the reunion she never had.
But—
She's sealed. Even with this, she can't move.
And if I unseal her, she decapitates me instantly.
Think. The blood-drawn portrait was similar. If I can merge her image into this photo—
A chill shot down his spine.
CRASH—!!
He tossed the retriever aside, dodging as a massive, toothy maw slammed where he stood.
The [Supreme Sovereign: Phase 2]—the flower monstrosity he'd stuffed with unstable Obsessions—had returned.
Beside it, a faint shadow—Chiyo's echo—watched.
"Even with her sealed, this thing's autonomous?!"
CRACK—CRACK—
The glitching voids spread faster, the dungeon collapsing.
No time.
Takakai sprinted away, the beast in pursuit, as the world shattered around them.