Title: The Beginning After the End Vol. 7
Author: TurtleMe (Story), Fuyuki23 (Art)
Publisher: Yen Press, Tapas
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 296
Genre: Fantasy, Action
Publication Date: March 25, 2025
The Story
We open up in the middle of the battle with the Elderwood Guardian, an S-Class mana beast. Art formulates a plan to get everyone evacuated and to safety; however, when it comes to giving orders to Lucas, Lucas had other plans and turned his back on everyone, claiming that they can all rot there and die, but he will spread word that they sacrificed their lives to protect him. After he makes his cowardly escape, Art has no choice but to unveil his powers to the party. He uses his second stage and is able to defeat the Elderwood Guardian, but they suffered heavy losses, and Art was left in grave condition.
When he awakens, he learns that only he, Jasmine, Samantha, and Elijah survived. While recovering, Elijah and Art talk about their secrets as well as their powers and abilities. They form a pretty close bond as a result. Samantha, while also heavily injured, managed to save Art’s mask along with the Elderwood Guardian’s core. They all agree that Art should have it; however, when he returns home, he gives it to his father as a gift.
At the academy, Lucas is handed his punishment for his actions; however, Art doesn’t escape unscathed either. He is ordered to stay away from Lucas and the Wykes family until Lucas finishes attending the academy; however, this was all part of Art’s plan… a plan where he won’t be satisfied with normal revenge as an outcome! That plan for revenge has been put into motion as Art calls in a favor to Vincent to meet up with a certain someone. Also, since Lucas has no idea what Art looks like without his mask, he changes up his appearance and is ready to attend the academy, hiding from Lucas in broad daylight!
Characters
There wasn’t much in the way of huge developments in this volume; however, the bond that deepens between Elijah and Art is the main focus here. After revealing their secrets to one another, it shows the trust that they have, and it’s easy to tell that they are going to be good friends. Plus, Art is going out of his way to help Elijah attend the academy. Elijah is even at Art’s house when he comes home to visit his family, and they share a few moments together that should give you a laugh or two.
There was one VERY small detail shown here which cements Jasmine’s feelings for Art (despite the fact that he’s severely underage compared to her). When Art returns home, Jasmine has to go on a mission, so she leaves Art a note. She almost signs it with “Love, Jasmine;” however, the ‘Lov’ is crossed out. Art immediately realizes it, too. We always knew it was more than just protecting Art and keeping him from harm, but that kind of seals the deal. This is what? Girl #3 with a crush on him? Someone’s building himself a subtle harem!
Final Thoughts
Even though it looked as if Lucas would cooperate in the previous volume, I’m not shocked that he pulled out his trump card and turned on everyone. It also didn’t surprise me at the level of punishment that was handed out to him, given the power and influence of the Wykes family. If anything, it set Lucas up as one of, if not the top antagonist of the series… especially since there is a hierarchy to the Wykes family that Art is going to have to contend with. This might be settled in an arc, or this might stretch across the entire series with both of them growing older, powering up, and never able to get the best of one another until a fateful clash at the end. Whatever may come, I’m looking forward to their eventual fight.
Art’s advancement was handled correctly. Far too often, the main character will receive a power-up out of nowhere to get them out of a situation, and then they carry on with this new power. In Art’s case, he received a power-up, but he wasn’t truly ready to use it. Considering that he almost died and realized that his body can’t handle it yet, shows his potential, but it also makes this new power a trump card with a very high risk/reward situation attached to it. I’m sure, in time, Art will find a way to harness the power completely, but until then, it can become a nice moral decision-type plot point to use from time to time.
Elijah is pretty interesting, and it looks like he’s going to be staying around. So far, most of the people Art meets stick around for an arc and then disappear, so it’s nice to see someone he comes across remain there. Then again, I can see this series using a faction-like system for its characters by assigning casts to different parts of the world so that when Art goes there, you’ll know who will be there and you can catch up with them to see how they’ve been faring. This is a good technique as it compartmentalizes the world and keeps things contained and organized, making it easy to tell Art’s story without having to worry about constantly juggling an ever-expanding cast. I should know this is a good method since I use it for my From Ashe light novel series! (Yes, cheap plug).
Overall, this was a fantastic volume filled with a wide range of emotions. It also showed just how scary, cunning, and vengeful Art can be. Then again, he IS a king stuck in a boy’s body. He knows a thing or two about ruling with an iron hand! Can’t wait to see how Art’s revenge plan unfolds!
You can also check out other Outerhaven reviews on your favorite social media networks:
Subscribe to us on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/theouterhaven.net
Subscribe to us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheOuterHaven
Subscribe to us on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/theouterhavennet
This item was purchased for review.
