The fire smoldered for hours, long after the butcher shop had collapsed into a blackened skeleton of charred beams and smoking rubble. The flames devoured everything—his chopping block, his knives, the hooks where the carcasses used to swing, even the wooden counter where Mateo once cracked jokes while serving customers.The butcher’s shop was no more.Leon stood in the ruin until dawn, his face lit by the dull orange glow of dying embers. The neighbors had retreated to their homes, fearful of being seen near him, fearful of drawing Hector’s wrath. He didn’t blame them. The Serpents thrived on fear; they had built their kingdom upon it.But as Leon stared at the ashes, he felt something shift inside him. The shop was gone, yes—but the fire had burned away more than wood. It had burned away the last remnants of the man who once thought he could live quietly, selling meat to survive.From now on, there was only the Butcher.The System flickered in his vision, its cold text sharper than