He stood at the edge of the room, breath heavy, gaze restless. Both sides were locked in relentless combat, the black-clad guards and the mysterious warriors with cloth-bound heads. He knew this wasn't just a physical clash anymore. It had become a battle between two unyielding wills, and if left unchecked, blood would soon stain the floor.

"Stop!" Alaric suddenly shouted, his voice booming and echoing off the walls.

But no one stopped. Bamboo struck again. A guard's punch landed. Shouts of rage and pain filled the room.

Alaric's frustration surged. He stepped forward, weaving his way into the chaos. He reached out to stop one of the guards mid-swing, grabbing his shoulder to hold him back. But doing that only made him a new target.

"Hey! I said stop!" he shouted again, batting away a staff that came dangerously close to his face. But the guards, now blinded by fear and adrenaline, could no longer tell friend from foe. In their eyes, Alaric was just another unfamiliar threat.

A fist flew toward him. Alaric dodged instinctively, feeling the rush of air as the punch grazed the top of his hair. His body reacted faster than his thoughts. Trained reflexes kicking in. He spun, launching a controlled kick to the attacker's side, just enough force to send the man stumbling backward.

"Don't make me fight you," he warned, though he knew the words were meaningless in the middle of chaos. He kept dodging, slipping between blows, deflecting strikes and leaping back with precision.

He moved with practiced skill, swift, clean, and intentional. He wasn't trying to hurt anyone. He just wanted to stop this madness.

But the wave of disorder was too much. People ran in every direction, objects crashed to the floor, and the cramped space only made everything feel tighter and hotter. In that instant, Alaric realized... there was no way to stop this with human strength alone.

He pulled back toward the edge of the room, steadying his breath. The sounds around him started to fade, replaced by a low hum inside his own mind. He reached for the black band around his wrist. Blue lines of light lit up across it, racing outward to form intricate symbols.

"That's enough..."

"If this keeps going, everything will fall apart."

He looked out at the brutal clash still raging in front of him. A faint smile appeared on his lips. One that held weariness, conviction, and a hint of madness from someone about to push beyond their limits.

"Maybe... it's time I used my AI system. It's always been reliable."

He tapped the bracelet again. In an instant, the air before him shimmered... waves of transparent light formed a blue holographic screen that hovered in the air.

"Quick consult mode," he said, breathless.

The screen responded with floating text:

[Rank AI system activated. What's your query?]

Alaric didn't waste a second. He knew the system responded better to logic than emotion. So he spoke directly, using a structured problem-solving tone.

"Resolve the battle between two opposing sides," he stated clearly, eyes locked on the screen. "And still come out as the victor with full control."

A soft hum signaled the system processing his request. Within seconds, the holographic interface brightened. The color shifted from pale blue to a greenish glow, shimmering like rippling water under moonlight.

Alaric stared at it, unblinking. His face showed a mix of exhaustion and awe. The reflection of the screen flickered in his eyes, hinting that whatever appeared next wouldn't just be a solution.

It might be the end.

Or the beginning of the end.

–––––––––––––––––

The beam moved swiftly, spiraling outward in every direction, bouncing off walls before piercing through the crowd at the center where two factions were still locked in brutal combat.

The light snaked across the battlefield like a living creature. It weaved and twisted between the fast-moving bodies, stopping precisely between two opponents mid-charge. In an instant, the air around them grew heavy. A faint flicker, like static electricity, danced through the space. Followed by a loud, resonating chime.

A bamboo staff slipped from one attacker's grip, spinning through the air before hitting the floor. From the other side, the guards' pistols were flung in the opposite direction, slamming into the wall. Where they immediately lost their pliability. The weapons hardened as if sculpted into stone. One by one, every weapon in the room fell to the ground.

Silence swept over the space. All eyes turned to their weapons scattered across the floor. One of the guards tried to reclaim his pistol. But the moment his fingertip touched the surface, the weapon wouldn't budge. He tried again... this time pulling with both hands, then kicking it with his boots. Nothing worked.

The firearm seemed fused to the floor—cold, solid, and reflecting the same bluish glow as Alaric's holographic beam. Then, one by one, they all realized that their weapons had been frozen. Not in the sense of being encased in ice, but by a force that erased their function. Neutralizing any intent to be wielded again.

Yet even though their weapons were rendered useless, human emotions were not so easily disarmed. Anger still surged. Harsh breaths still hung hot in the air. They stared each other down, unwilling to back off. And in the next second, the fight resumed... this time without weapons.

Fists collided. Bodies slammed into one another. The room filled once more with the sounds of blows, impact, and strained breathing. But there was a shift. Without weapons, no single strike could be fatal. Now, everything felt more balanced. Their movements remained fast, but the AI system had recalibrated the entire field. ensuring force was distributed evenly across the room.

Alaric stood hidden in the shadow of a massive support pillar, his eyes sharply tracking the newly contained fight. The hologram in front of him still pulsed softly, like the slow heartbeat of an artificial heart brought to life. From his AI system, a steady mechanical voice echoed in his audio feed.

"You need to take advantage of this moment, Alaric."

"This fight is just a distraction. Their main energy isn't here. It'd be more efficient for you to hunt the real mastermind. He's likely nearby. Maybe... even in this very building, watching the clash unfold."

Alaric stared at the screen for a few seconds. The blue holographic light danced across his sharp, focused expression.

"The mastermind," he murmured. "If he's leading a syndicate this large, there's no way he'd let someone breach this far in without watching."

"He must be observing... through the eyes of his puppets. Success or failure, he'd want to see it firsthand before the end."

He glanced left and right, checking that the situation had stabilized. Though the skirmish raged on in the middle of the room, the intensity was clearly waning, many had been injured or were running out of stamina. Alaric knew the timing was perfect.

Moving swiftly, he began maneuvering along the right side of the room, sticking close to the wall like a lizard. Only inverted, with his back flat against the surface. His feet moved silently, his entire body focused.

His trusted system continued feeding him subtle feedback, projecting a 3D map of the building in the air. Every room, every energy spike, every vital sign nearby appeared on the floating mini display in front of him.

"Abnormal movement detected in the western sector. Heat levels rising, but invisible to standard sensors," the system reported.

"Most likely a jamming field, a kind of energy shield to scramble signals. That's your target."

Alaric halted for a moment, eyes narrowing toward the dark corridor highlighted by the system. He could feel the shift in the atmosphere. Invisible electric currents hummed in the air, changing the mood of the space.

He glanced back briefly toward the ongoing fight. The guards and the mysterious intruders were still wrestling and striking each other, but without fatal damage. Meanwhile, his AI system continued moderating the battlefield, ensuring no one died in the chaos.

"Alright," Alaric whispered.

"You handle the rest."

"Confirmed. Prioritize the main target," replied the AI in its neutral tone.

With a slow, steady breath, Alaric made his move. He walked briskly, and then vanished completely from sight.

As his shadow disappeared from the upper level, the echoes of the clash behind him began to fade.

The hallway ahead was far darker and more ominous than the floors below. It radiated an energy that warned him to stay away. Each step stirred a fine layer of dust from the high ceiling above. Not just ordinary grime, but the remains of things better left undisturbed. The marble floor beneath him mirrored his determined stride with eerie clarity.

He stopped in front of a massive door, tinted with a silvery-blue hue. Its surface gleamed, but upon closer inspection, thin laser lines crisscrossed it in patterns like a spider's web. This was no ordinary door.

Alaric knew exactly what it was, a high-security gate embedded with thermal scanners, heartbeat sensors, and retinal recognition. Only one person could pass through it freely: the leader of the syndicate.

But for Alaric, equipped with an SSS-Rank AI system, this was just another challenge waiting to be cracked.

"System, analyze laser grid and security weak points," he whispered.

A thin hologram lit up, projecting a virtual blueprint of the door. Bright red lines revealed the laser patterns that subtly shifted every few seconds to avoid being traced. The AI system responded calmly.