The Beginning After the End: Does Lucas Wykes die?

Lucas as seen in The Beginning After the End manhwa
Lucas as seen in The Beginning After the End manhwa (Image credit: Tapas)

The Beginning After the End, created by TurtleMe, is one of the most beloved isekai series, featuring exhilarating action and expansive world-building. Among the many unforgettable characters in the story, Lucas Wykes is a figure who stands out for all the wrong reasons.

Ever since the beginning, Lucas has earned the ire of fans, acting spoiled and arrogant. Since his misdeeds only keep getting worse and worse, many may be curious about his final fate. Yes, Lucas Wykes does die in The Beginning After the End, and his death is both immensely brutal and satisfying to watch.

The Beginning After the End follows Arthur Leywin, a king who is reincarnated into a world filled with magic. Though surrounded by his loved ones, Arthur leads a turbulent life where he needs to keep getting stronger to protect those close to him. In his journey towards gaining power, Arthur becomes an adventurer, tasked with exploring dungeons and killing monsters.

Lucas as seen in The Beginning After the End manhwa (Image credit: Tapas)
Lucas as seen in The Beginning After the End manhwa (Image credit: Tapas)

During his time as an adventurer, he makes several valuable connections, such as Elijah, who goes on to become his best friend. At the same time, Arthur also forms a lifelong rivalry with Lucas Wykes, who is considered by most of the fan fanbase to be the most unlikable character in The Beginning After the End.

Lucas is a member of the renowned Wykes family and the brother of Bairon Wykes, one of the six Lances. In contrast to his noble lineage, Lucas makes no effort to hide his true personality. He is openly antagonistic, overconfident, and selfish. However, his prideful demeanor is merely a facade to hide his inferiority complex and cowardice.

The Beginning After the End anime viewers got acquainted with him in the final episode of season one, where he took the Adventurer’s Guild test alongside Arthur, displaying his destructive Fire Elemental magic. However, his truly despicable actions only take place in the coming arcs.

Manhwa and novel readers have grown to hate Lucas because of his role in the Dire Tombs raid, where he was consistently disobedient and clashed with his fellow group members. Lucas finally went too far when he betrayed his own allies after they ran into the Elderwood Guardian.

Wishing to survive, Lucas backstabbed Arthur, shooting him with his staff and using him as bait while he ran away. Although the protagonist and a few members of the raiding party survived, Lucas later taunted them, taking advantage of his position as a Wykes family member.

He only kept getting worse, even choosing to serve Draneeve and taking a drug that drastically increased his strength. However, this series of events led to his own downfall.


Lucas Wykes’ death in The Beginning After the End

During his time at Xyrus Academy, Lucas’ feelings of inferiority peaked, primarily because he was constantly being overshadowed by Arthur Leywin. At this point, he was scouted by Draneeve, a spy from Alacrya, to orchestrate an attack on the academy.

Lucas accepted, mutating his own body to pursue greater strength. Soon after, he and the other villains attacked the academy, causing widespread death and devastation. Lucas, who wished to hurt Arthur, targeted Tessia, who had lost access to her powers. This made him overpower and savagely beat her up.

Right when he was relishing his newfound strength, Arthur showed up with his dragon, visibly enraged. The presence of the protagonist sent shivers down the villain’s spine, instantly causing him to despair. Though Lucas tried resisting and fighting back with his fire powers, he was outmatched and brutally taken down by Arthur.

Arthur after killing Lucas as seen in The Beginning After the End manhwa (Image credit: Tapas)
Arthur after killing Lucas as seen in The Beginning After the End manhwa (Image credit: Tapas)

Even the kind protagonist, who had allowed Lucas to survive for so long, decided mercy could not be shown. To make Lucas pay for his crimes, Arthur tortured him in front of the entire academy, severing his arms and legs. As Lucas was crying and begging his opponent, Arthur decided to end the battle and used Down Force to crush Lucas’ Pelvis.

This marked the end of Lucas Wykes, and his unpleasant death was celebrated by every fan whose dislike he had earned through his barbaric actions.

Edited by Ishita Banerjee