The Beginning After the End episode 9: Arthur helps Lilia's magic awaken as he adjusts to human society

Premiered on Wednesday, May 21, 2025, at 11:30 PM JST, The Beginning After the End episode 9 follows Arthur’s mother, sister, Lilia, and Mrs. Helstea giving him a fresh makeover before taking him out on a tour of Xyrus City.

As Arthur grows more familiar with human city life, society, and magic, and has encounters with Xyrus Magic Academy students, the episode shifts focus to Lilia’s emotional struggle with her inability to use magic. Arthur helps mend the tension between Lilia and her parents and ultimately guides her to awaken her magic, ending the episode on an uplifting note.

The Beginning After the End episode 8 begins with Arthur getting a tour of Xyrus City

Arthur gets a new makeover in The Beginning After the End episode 9 (Image via Studio A-CAT)

The Beginning After the End episode 9, titled "The King Teaches," begins with Arthur training his magic, determined to grow stronger to protect those he cares about. After giving Sylvie a bath, his mother, sister, Lilia, and Mrs. Helstea take him to a salon to give him a fresh makeover. Afterward, they guide him through Xyrus City, where he encounters students from the Xyrus Academy of Mages.

While exploring, Arthur visits a store selling beast cores, magical items that enhance one’s strength, which he notes are absent in elven culture. He learns that cores imbued with a beast will are the rarest and most powerful.

Mrs. Helstea mentions that some will be auctioned soon and tells Arthur he can touch one later, though she refuses to buy one for Lilia, explaining that simply owning a core doesn’t guarantee awakening magic.

Arthur and Lilia in The Beginning After the End episode 9 (Image via Studio A-CAT)

Arthur suspects Mrs. Helstea is trying to protect Lilia from rushing into things. As he approaches Lilia, he sees her entering the store alone. She contemplates buying a cheap core with her allowance, revealing her frustration that her parents never let her have one. She tells Arthur he wouldn’t understand her struggles because he’s "special."

Realizing she’s feeling pressured, Arthur tries to reassure her, but their conversation is interrupted when Lilia bumps into some Xyrus Academy students. Despite Lilia’s apology, the students begin to bully them. Just as Arthur steps in to protect her, their mothers arrive and invoke the influential Helstea name. Recognizing the power behind the name, the bullies quickly back down.

The Beginning After the End episode 9: Arthur’s arrival disrupts Lilia’s family dynamics

Lilia's emotions burst in The Beginning After the End episode 9 (Image via Studio A-CAT)

In The Beginning After the End episode 9, after returning home, Lilia apologizes for the earlier confrontation. Vincent Helstea reassures her that it’s not a big issue and confirms that this won’t affect Arthur's enrollment at the Academy.

However, Lilia, feeling sidelined, questions her father, accusing him of favoring Arthur over her because she hasn’t awakened her magic. Hurt, she storms off, claiming to hate both her father and Arthur.

Later, as Arthur and Sylvie go to call her for dinner, Lilia remains unresponsive. The story shifts to a series of flashbacks of Vincent telling a younger Lilia that she would one day attend the Academy, her excitement to become a mage, and everything that followed due to her inability to awaken magic yet.

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These memories blend with more recent ones, where she recalls how everything seemed to change after Arthur arrived, and her father began considering sending him to the Academy.

Arthur’s voice snaps her out of her thoughts, telling her that her parents are worried. Arthur contemplates how to comfort her, but before he can say anything, Lilia apologizes, confessing her jealousy. She admits feeling overshadowed by Arthur’s sudden appearance and natural strength and assumes her parents are disappointed in her for not awakening her magic.

Arthur empathizes, assuring her that her assumptions are wrong and acknowledging the hard work she’s put in. To encourage her, he shows her the magical flowers, one of which glows like fireflies, and shares how Tessia once comforted him with it when he felt down. His words reach Lilia, and he asks her if she truly wants to learn magic.

The Beginning After the End episode 9 concludes with Arthur mending Lilia’s relationship with her parents and helping her awaken to magic

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In the closing moments of The Beginning After the End episode 9 turns to a tense conversation between Arthur and Lilia’s parents, who are shocked to learn that Lilia has left home. Arthur explains that he sent her to the same place where he trained, believing it would help her awaken her magic, although he avoids disclosing the exact location. Vincent questions why Arthur didn’t seek their permission.

Arthur reveals that it was Lilia’s own decision, fearing that seeing her parents might make her hesitate. Arthur then hands over a heartfelt letter from Lilia, in which she promises to become a great mage and return home stronger, asking her parents to stay well until then.

Overcome with emotion, Vincent breaks down, expressing that regardless of whether she gains magic, she’ll always be his beloved daughter. Then comes a twist. Arthur calls out to Lilia, revealing she had been hiding nearby all along. Lilia steps forward and apologizes for her deception, while Arthur takes responsibility, explaining that it was his idea to show her how deeply her parents care.

Arthur helps Lilia and Eleanor awaken to magic in The Beginning After the End episode 9 (Image via Studio A-CAT)

Vincent doesn’t blame Arthur, admitting his own fault for putting pressure on Lilia and for hastily suggesting Arthur enroll in the Academy right after reuniting with his family. Vincent assures Lilia that she doesn’t need to attend the Academy or become a mage to make them proud, but Lilia declares that she's resolved to learn magic and pursue the path of a mage no matter how long it takes.

With the Helstea family reunited and their bond reaffirmed, Arthur takes responsibility for awakening her magic. He instructs both Lilia and his sister Eleanor in mana awakening.

The Beginning After the End episode 9 then ends on an uplifting note, celebrating Lilia’s successful magic awakening. Arthur encourages her to keep practicing daily, noting that it will take a few years for her magic to fully stabilize.

A brief post-credit scene shows a noble accompanied by soldiers en route to the auction house, speculating whether anything of interest awaits him there.