---
Halrion was less a city and more a symptom—the fever dream of an architect who hated repetition and loved paradox.
It clung to a basin of fragmented terrain, where rivers flowed uphill, towers leaned sideways on purpose, and staircases often ended in other people's bedrooms. No street was ever the same twice. No law of gravity remained constant for more than a few blocks.
And still, the people lived.
Throve, even.
They adapted.
As Takumi stood at the edge of the final ridge, overlooking the city, his expression remained unreadable.
Lisette, less composed, took a deep breath and whispered, "If Splitmoor gave you a headache, this place is going to melt your spine."
Takumi didn't blink.
"I'll survive."
---
They crossed into Halrion just before dusk.
There was no gate.
There were no borders.
They stepped through a grove of glass-leaf trees and emerged into a hallway lined with stone windows, hovering over empty space. Two children chased a floating ball along the vertical wall, giggling as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
A man slept upside down on a floating chair, his tea steaming sideways.
And from somewhere deeper in the city, bells rang with irregular chimes.
Takumi stopped walking.
His knees shook.
Lisette grabbed his arm. "Ground yourself."
"I am."
"You're shaking."
"I know."
---
> [Environment Status: Law-Free Zone]
Spatial continuity suspended.
Logic fluidity at 68%.
[Mental Load: 44% → 50%]
[Fractured Mastery: Active]
---
They found an inn—or what counted as one.
It rotated every thirty seconds between four structural shapes: a cube, a wedge, a tower, and a treehouse.
Takumi chose the moment when it became a cube, stepped inside, and refused to acknowledge the next two transformations.
Lisette rolled her eyes. "You can't freeze the building by pretending it's not changing."
"It's better than respecting it."
---
Later that night, they went into the plaza.
Takumi needed to test Rule-Breaker.
He found the perfect target: a fluctuation beast. Native to Halrion, its shape shifted every time someone looked away. It had no core, no skeleton—only momentum and suggestion.
It lunged at a cart vendor.
Takumi stepped between.
The beast struck like a wave of hands—clawless, but impossible to pin down.
Lisette readied a spell.
But Takumi raised his hand.
---
> [Skill Activated: Rule-Breaker Lv. 1]
World Rule Ignored: "Perception governs form."
Duration: 5 seconds
---
He looked away—
—and the beast didn't change.
Because for five seconds, the world's rule of visual fluctuation ceased to apply.
Takumi turned back and struck the beast in the chest with his open palm.
A clean impact.
A direct hit.
The monster screamed—a sound like breaking mirrors underwater—and dissolved into a fog of unrealized thoughts.
---
> [Enemy Neutralized: Fluctuation Beast Lv. 41]
+3 Levels
New Skill Gained: Mind Lock Lv. 1
"Momentarily freeze the logic of a target within unstable regions."
---
Lisette approached him slowly.
She looked shaken.
"Do you realize what you just did?"
"Yes."
"You broke the world's permission."
Takumi nodded once. "It was already broken. I just decided not to obey."
---
That night, he sat outside on a floating step. The city spun gently around him—lights shifting, stars dancing in spirals above.
And then, a figure appeared.
Not walking.
Not materializing.
Just… being there.
As if it had always existed in that spot and Takumi had only now noticed.
A tall shape in robes woven of paper-thin glass.
Its voice echoed directly inside Takumi's mind.
> You are not human anymore.
Takumi didn't look up.
"I'm still me."
> Not for long.
> You've tasted choice beyond rule.
> Now you must choose again.
A symbol hovered in the air between them:
🜇
A sigil older than this world.
It pulsed once.
Then split into two names:
> Takumi Arata
"The One Who Cleanses"
Or—
Akar-Keth
"He Who Denies the Spiral Itself"
---
The entity said one last thing:
> Only those who let go of their names can bend the spiral backward.
And vanished.
---
Takumi stared at the name.
His name.
Then closed his eyes.
And whispered to the dark:
"…Not yet."
---
🔹 End of Chapter 12