100% DROP RATE : Why is My Inventory Always so Full?

Nearly two thousand soldiers marched in formation. The ground trembled beneath their boots.

Lucien's eyes swept across the column... and froze. Among the endless stream of troops, a familiar figure stood out.

The eldest son of Harold Coalheart.

Darius Coalheart.

The only one on horseback, elevated above the mass of foot soldiers.

Lucien's expression darkened.

Darius was the man who had once cursed him, the reason he had died once. If not for the Life-Link Talisman, Lucien wouldn't be standing here at all.

The rage he had buried stirred. This was the moment he had been waiting for.

At his side, Sebas's gaze sharpened.

"Young Lord… I see assassins among them. From the Assassin's Guild."

Lucien's eyes flickered but it was Maxim who spoke next.

"Their stance gave them away. Soldiers sway when fatigue sets in but those assassins don't. Their steps are measured, backs straight, eyes sharp. All positioned at the front… one hundred forty-eight of them, exactly."

A grim silence followed.

Edric's voice broke it. "So it's true. The Assassin's Guild has fallen this far…"

Lucien turned forward again activating INSPECT.

The suspicions were confirmed.

The frontlines were assassins of the Guild. Tier 5 to Tier 7.

Lucien's gaze shifted and his expression faltered.

Behind the assassins marched rows of the brainwashed Skill-bearers. Twisted creations of the Coalhearts.

Their movements were stiff. They were like mechanical puppets stripped of free will.

Their hollow eyes made his chest tighten.

'The Coalhearts… were indeed pigs that deserve slaughter,' he thought coldly.

His attention returned to Darius, riding arrogantly in the middle ranks. Lucien's eyes glinted with a dangerous light.

At the rear trudged the regular Coalheart soldiers. They were weaker, ranging only from Tier 1 to Tier 5.

He closed his eyes and activated DIVINE SENSE.

The world transformed into a canvas of color and emotion.

The assassins at the front burned with a shade of resignation, flickering between reluctance and helplessness as if trapped by a fate they could not escape.

The brainwashed Skill-bearers were worse. Their colors did not flow at all. Only dull, lifeless gray as though every spark of thought had been scrubbed away.

And Darius… his aura reeked. A faint tinge of Miasma clung to him. It was foul and corrupt, making Lucien's skin crawl.

He shook his head and spoke quietly.

"The assassins… it might be tied to the magic circles embedded in them. They could be controlled through that. What do you think, Sebas?"

Sebas's face darkened.

After a pause, he answered grimly...

"It's possible, Young Lord. Assassins are meant to kill, not serve as soldiers. This goes against everything the Guild stands for. If they're here... then someone must already control the entire Guild."

The weight of that truth hung heavy. None doubted it. The evidence was right in front of them.

The Assassin's Guild had once been a full of elites, honed through brutal training. Whoever held their reins would gain a terrifying boost in power.

But even so, they were nothing before true titans. Against someone like Cielius, they were little more than ants.

Cielius turned with a chuckle.

"Hohoho… Grandson, how would you like to deal with them?"

Edric roared in laughter, clapping his hands. "Right, Nephew! We'll leave the decision to you! GAHAHAHA!"

Lucien's gaze swept over his allies. Truth be told, with this team at his side, they could annihilate the entire army in moments.

Yet none of them acted on their own... They waited for his word.

Lucien paused, thinking. Then a slow smile curved his lips.

"Grandpa Ciel… on my signal, please raise giant walls to cut off their retreat."

"Of course." Cielius nodded.

Lucien turned to the others.

"My pets will handle the assassins and the brainwashed people. The rear soldiers… Uncle Ed, Uncle Max, Sebas... I'll leave them to you."

Finally, his eyes fixed on the rider at the center of the march.

His voice dropped. Chilling and sharp.

"…And that Coalheart bastard… he's mine."

A ripple of unease spread through the air at his words. His companions, however, only grinned.

"GAHAHAHA! Excellent! I've been itching for a fight and so have my retainers!" Edric bellowed.

And then...

The plan began.

Lucien raised his hand, summoning the MONSTERDEX.

Six names echoed in the air.

Skittles. Oreo. Nyxis. Sparkles. Korrak. Vyrran.

That was enough.

In a shimmer of light, his beasts appeared. With a sharp command, they surged forward.

The three slimes leapt onto the backs of Korrak and Vyrran while Sparkles remained at Lucien's side.

Lucien's eyes narrowed. He gave the signal.

At once, Cielius raised his hand. The ground trembled... then giant walls erupted from the earth, cutting off the army's path of retreat like a steel trap.

Shouts of panic rippled through the marching troops.

And before they could even react, Edric and the others broke into a charge. Their figures streaked ahead like unleashed predators.

The ambush had begun.

...

The sudden eruption of the massive wall sent shockwaves of panic through the ranks. Soldiers shouted in confusion and their formation broke.

But they had no time to process it.

Korrak and Vyrran were already charging.

The assassins snapped to attention. Weapons flashed as they braced to intercept the oncoming beasts.

"What?! I've never seen monsters like these in the dungeon! Did they summon the wall too?"

Darius's voice cut through the chaos.

"Intercept them! Now!"

The assassins surged forward.

But Korrak and Vyrran were faster. With the three slimes mounted on their backs, they tore into the frontlines like living battering rams.

And then—

Nyxis raised its magic.

A heavy pressure filled the air. The ground itself seemed to groan. The assassins staggered as gravity thickened around them, crushing their balance.

The frontline stumbled, struggling under the overwhelming weight.

Seizing the moment, Oreo released a wave of dark magic. Sleep.

One by one, assassins collapsed where they stood. Their blades clattered uselessly to the ground.

Lucien's eyes remained cold. He had no intention of killing them yet. Not until he confirmed whether the binding magic circles could be broken.

The few stronger assassins who resisted were quickly intercepted by Skittles and the two drakes, cutting off any hope of rallying.

Within moments, the vanguard were subdued and dragged into unconsciousness.

Skittles and the others crashed into the rear guard. Their assault tipped the battlefield into chaos.

From a distance, Darius's face drained of color.

He could see his forces crumbling.

Assassins collapsing like ragdolls.

Soldiers scattering in disarray.

A wall out of nowhere.

Unfamiliar monsters tearing through his men.

An ambush so clean it shattered every contingency he had prepared.

Nothing was going as planned.

His instincts screamed at him.

Escape now.

He jerked the reins, spurring his horse to flee. Guards rushed to form a circle around him but Darius already knew their defense wouldn't last.

And then—

A shadow fell over him.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Darius's head snapped upward. His heart sank.

Lucien descended from the sky, astride Sparkles.

Realization struck like a hammer. "Y–you… Lootwell bastard. This was all you…?"

Lucien's smile was razor-sharp.

"Idiot. You did this to yourself. If you'd stayed rotting in your territory like the cockroach you are, none of this would've happened. So tell me… why are you here? To die?"

Rage overtook Darius's fear. He ripped his sword free and swung at Lucien with everything he had.

But Lucien barely tilted his head, letting the blade slice harmlessly through air.

Pathetic.

Darius was Tier 5. Against Lucien who had long since surpassed the weight of simple levels... he was nothing more than a child waving a stick.

Lucien didn't want to drag this out.

He leapt from Sparkles and drove a brutal kick into Darius's chest.

"AGHK—!"

Darius was flung back, rolling across the dirt. He hacked up blood and his body convulsed. But then... he staggered upright far too quickly.

Lucien's eyes narrowed. 'That kick should've shattered his ribs.'

And then he saw it.

A gargoyle-shaped ring on Darius's finger, oozing black miasma. The foul aura coiled around his torso, shielding him.

Worse, it devoured the blood he spat and the ring pulsed ominously in response.

Lucien's instincts screamed. Whatever that thing was awakening, it was dangerous.

"You're dead, boy," Darius sneered as confidence flooded back into his voice.

Lucien's expression hardened.

'Not a chance.'

Without hesitation, he summoned a sword and blurred forward, faster than Darius could blink.

Steel flashed.

"GAHHHH! BASTARD!"

Darius shrieked as Lucien severed his hand clean off. Blood sprayed and his ring-bearing hand tumbled through the air... still leaking that sinister miasma.

But the danger didn't fade. The gargoyle ring drank greedily from the spilled blood, its glow intensifying as if building toward a catastrophic release.

Lucien's face didn't so much as twitch. He snapped his leg upward, kicking the severed arm into the air and whispered...

"Auto-collect."

The arm vanished into his INVENTORY.

The malignant aura sputtered out instantly, snuffed like a candle. The air cleared. The imminent danger was gone.

Lucien finally exhaled.

"Nice try."

Darius stared at Lucien, trembling. His face was pale.

"W-what did you do!?" he demanded.

Lucien's gaze was cold and unreadable. He didn't bother answering. Instead, he sighed.

"Harold Coalheart… truly unfortunate. Second son... headless. Third son... headless as well. Under. Next…"

His lips curled into a cruel smirk.

"…just to be fair, I'll sever both of your heads."

Darius's breath caught. Despair gnawed at him. He clutched his 'heads' on instinct... only to realize too late that one hand was missing and every twitch of his body sent pain screaming through him.

Lucien advanced.

Each footstep struck like a death knell.

Darius's vision swam as his survival instinct screamed. And then he saw it...

Lucien's grin. Twisted. Cold. The smile of a predator savoring the kill.

Goosebumps raced down his skin. His hair stood on end. It was as if the grim reaper himself was walking toward him.

But Lucien didn't plan to simply kill him.

He wanted him to suffer.

He raised a hand.

Darkness surged.

"Eclipse Magic. Circle of a Thousand Chains."

A big Yin-Yang sigil blossomed in the air, spinning. From every shadow, chains erupted, writhing like serpents. They coiled hungrily around Darius.

"NO! STOP—AGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The moment the chains latched on, Darius convulsed.

They dragged his body down while whispering...

Whispering all the things he feared most.

All the self-loathing he buried,

Every doubt and weakness gnawed raw.

The more he tried to deny it, the tighter the chains bound him. His howls filled the night.

But Lucien wasn't finished.

Another circle spun at his fingertips, burning with starlight. His voice was calm. Almost bored.

Cosmic Attribute… Dominion Circle. Circle of Eternal Mind.

The magic circle shot forth, embedding into Darius's body.

His body froze, shackled by shadow and silence... yet his mind was torn free.

In that instant, his consciousness was dragged into a dream-realm where time no longer held meaning. Seconds stretched into years. The cycle repeated endlessly.

No death.

No escape.

Only madness.

Lucien lowered his hand. His eyes glinted.

The nightmare had only just begun.

To Darius…

Time lost all meaning.

There was no beginning, no end. Only the endless weight of chains tightening, crushing, whispering.

His howls echoed through the void, distorted into something no longer human.

His face twisted from one expression to another.

Fear. Denial. Rage. Despair.

As if fleeing from something unseen, only to be dragged back again and again.

Then the humiliation came. His body failed him. He pissed himself. Shit followed. The stench fouled the air.

Lucien's lip curled in disgust.

The cycle repeated.

The chains dug deeper.

Tighter.

Tighter still.

What felt like years of torment to Darius was nothing but seconds outside.

And then—

Silence.

The chains slackened. His body hung limp. His mind was gone. Whether death came from the crushing pressure or the shattering of his sanity hardly mattered.

Either way…

"Justice has been served."

The system notification rang in Lucien's ears, cold and final.

He snapped his fingers.

Flames engulfed the corpse, reducing it to ash.

The foul stench of fear and filth was burned away.

Lucien cast a glance at the battlefield.

The others were nearly done. They could have ended things cleanly with spells but it seemed they preferred the satisfaction of steel and fist.

There was a different kind of release in striking flesh rather than casting magic and they indulged in it.

Elunara, however, had abstained. She stayed behind with the children, claiming she had no taste for slaughter. In truth, it felt as though she had already foreseen this outcome.

Soon enough, the last screams faded.

The soldiers collapsed one after another, bodies strewn across the dirt.

No mercy was given. No guilt lingered.

'They chose to follow Coalheart. That alone is enough to condemn them.'

When the work was finished, fire consumed the corpses.

Black smoke curled into the sky.

Lucien's gaze shifted then... toward the sleeping captives.

Lucien's eyes then drifted toward the sleeping group.

He had already seen a few things that might counteract the magic circles etched in their bodies. Perhaps even a way to dispel the brainwashing.

The next occurrence would confirm it.

With that thought, Lucien raised a hand and summoned his Magic Book.

And then—

Something unexpected happened.