I Built a Beast Empire After Reincarnation

Chapter 46: Chapter 46: The Warborn Strategy

Lucas sat alone in the command chamber above the castle keep. A lantern flickered beside the war table, casting wavering light over the battlefield map. The scent of blood still clung to his skin, and every inch of his body ached from the Aegis backlash. But it didn’t matter.

Time was running out.

The Bastion Maze would only hold Agram for half a day.

He couldn’t waste it.

He stared at the map, replaying every detail. The terrain. The troop placements. The enemy’s routes. The weaknesses in their lines.

Angel’s voice hummed gently in his ear.

{You’re stable enough to rest, Lucas. You shouldn’t push yourself.}

"I can’t rest. Not while he’s still breathing."

{Then let me assist. I’ve analyzed the previous battlefield data and projected Agram’s behavioral patterns. His aggression makes him predictable... but only if we control the environment.}

Lucas exhaled slowly. "Then let’s control it."

Kaela and Elira entered the chamber, both silent. Behind them came Malrick, his expression grim.

"We’re ready," Kaela said. "Just tell us where to bleed."

Lucas nodded. "We’re going to kill Agram. Not fight him, not survive him. Kill him."

He pointed to the southeast ridge.

"This is where we lure him once the illusion trap ends. The terrain’s uneven, but it feeds into the lower ravine, where we’ll set the final trap."

"Final trap?" Malrick asked.

Lucas nodded. "I’ll need every glyph you’ve got left. You’re going to weave a multi-layered collapse array into the rock face."

Malrick blinked. "You want to bury him?"

"No. I want to entomb him in a field of binding sigils—then hit him with every ounce of magic and beast power we have."

Elira narrowed her eyes. "That’s risky. We’ll have civilians inside the castle during the final clash."

Lucas nodded. "Which is why Kaela, Elira, and I will lead the fight outside. Once we engage, everyone else evacuates. The array will trigger when Agram enters the ravine fully—then we hit him with everything."

Kaela cracked her knuckles. "So we hold until he commits. Then we bury him."

Lucas looked around the room. "No more running. No more splitting our strength. This is it. We break him, or he breaks us."

Angel’s voice chimed again.

{Reynard would approve of this plan. It’s brutal... but it’s efficient.}

Lucas lowered his gaze. "He taught me how to fight smart. It’s time I proved I learned something."

He turned to Malrick. "You’ll lead the civilians and wounded to the northern ridge. Take the fastest beasts. Don’t wait for us."

Malrick hesitated. "You think you’ll die."

"I think I might," Lucas said simply. "But if I do, he dies with me."

Kaela stepped closer. "Then we’ll make damn sure neither happens."

Elira put her hand over Lucas’s. "You don’t carry this alone."

He smiled faintly. "I know."

Kaela and Elira’s Preparation

Later that night, Kaela stood alone near the training yard, axes resting at her sides. She stared up at the moon, jaw tight, eyes distant.

Elira approached quietly. "Couldn’t sleep either?"

Kaela didn’t look away. "No. I keep thinking about what comes next. If I fall tomorrow, I want it to be doing something that counts."

Elira placed a hand on her shoulder. "Then make it count. But don’t plan on dying. You’re too damn stubborn for that."

Kaela chuckled softly. "Coming from you, that means something."

They stood there in silence for a moment, two warriors bound by shared pain, shared purpose.

"I’m scared," Elira whispered. "Not of dying. Of losing him. Losing you."

Kaela finally turned, her voice low. "Then don’t. If one of us falls, the other brings him back. Deal?"

Elira nodded, eyes shining. "Deal."

...

Inside the Bastion Maze, the air grew colder.

Agram pressed forward, ignoring the shifting illusions and false echoes. His armor steamed with residual rage, breath forming mist in the spiraling dark.

He had tested every wall, every corridor. They all bent space. None gave way.

Until now.

He struck the wall with a bellow—and the wall cracked.

Crimson veins laced through his skin, his power swelling unnaturally.

"Break."

He pounded again. And again.

Then he smiled.

The maze trembled.

The magic faltered.

He could see light now. Real light. A path.

Agram stepped forward.

"Run while you still can, little king."

He clenched his fists.

"When I catch you, I’ll make your end a lesson the world never forgets."

His roar split the mountainside.

The Warhound was coming.

As dawn broke the next day, the castle was a hive of quiet preparation.

Lucas walked the battlements, his legs sore, his muscles screaming—but he endured it. Every step reminded him of what was at stake.

He paused before the statue of an old knight in the garden below the tower. It bore no name, but the eyes were kind. A relic from the old kingdom. Forgotten, but still standing.

"Reynard would’ve liked this place," he murmured.

Angel spoke again.

{Lucas. The system has detected your willpower at critical levels. Would you like to activate "Will of the Unbroken"?}

Lucas smiled. "Save it for the end. When I need it most."

As the sun rose to its peak, a faint tremor shook the castle.

The Bastion Maze was failing.

Kaela stood at Lucas’s side. Elira strung her bow with trembling fingers, not from fear, but from anticipation.

Malrick gave the final nod. "The ravine trap is armed. All sigils are set. Once he enters the mouth, it’s up to you."

Lucas stepped forward, lifting both Phantom Blades.

"To everyone who fought. Everyone who bled. And everyone we lost..."

He paused.

"This is where it ends."

He said to Angel. "Trigger the flare when the trap closes."

{Understood. And Lucas?}

"Yeah?"

{Good hunting.}

...

The moment the first tremor split the ground, Lucas felt it in his bones. The Bastion Maze had broken.

Angel’s voice echoed through his mind.

{Agram has breached the illusion. Estimated time until full emergence: less than fifteen minutes.}

Lucas stood on the ledge above the southeastern ravine. The air was thick with tension, every soldier stationed below moving with synchronized urgency. Glowing glyphs pulsed along the walls—Malrick’s sigils already active, woven into the stone like veins of magic.

"Positions!" Lucas called.

Kaela dropped beside him, armor fastened and axes humming with latent energy. "I’ve placed explosive runes along the path leading to the trap. If he runs, he’s running into fire."

Elira joined next, her long cloak whipping in the wind. Luna padded behind her, low to the ground. "I’ll keep pressure from the ridge. The moment he enters the ravine, I pin him with suppressing arrows."

Lucas nodded, his gaze distant but focused. "Once the flare fires, we don’t let up. Malrick will detonate the lower sigils the moment I give the signal."

Below them, the ravine mouth yawned like a waiting maw—narrow, rocky, treacherous. A place meant for ambushes and final stands.

Kaela nudged Lucas with her shoulder. "You ready?"

Lucas looked at her—then at Elira—and smiled.

"No. But that never stopped me before."

Agram’s Advance

Dust bled from the treeline as Agram’s armored frame burst into view. His cloak was torn, helm cracked, but his body still radiated malice.

The Warhound had survived the maze.

His eyes locked instantly onto the ravine—and the three figures awaiting him atop it.

"Finally," he growled, voice like gravel. "The little king dares stand again."

He broke into a run.

Kaela slammed her gauntlets together. "Here he comes!"

Elira unleashed a volley of glowing arrows. The first barrage hit Agram’s shoulder, slowing him. The second—imbued with frost—exploded at his feet, staggering his pace. He snarled, swiping at the air, catching one arrow mid-flight and crushing it in his gauntlet.

Lucas activated his Phantom Blades, energy wrapping around his arms.

[Skill Activation: Phantom Guard – Defensive Aura Formed.]

He took a deep breath.

"Angel. Flare."

{Confirmed. Deploying flare now.}

A pillar of blue flame shot skyward from the ravine.

Below, Malrick triggered the first sigils.

The ground around Agram burst with arcs of light and stone.

The ravine trembled.

Glyphs snapped to life all around him—walls of force sealing his flanks, energy blades forming from the rocks, slicing his armor. He roared, thrashing wildly.

Lucas jumped.

Blades drawn.

Kaela followed, leaping down like a thunderbolt.

Elira stayed above, raining precision fire from her vantage.

The trap had sprung.

The ravine became a cage of chaos.

Agram spun, striking at Kaela, who ducked low and carved into his thigh. Lucas’s blades slashed through the Warhound’s backplate. Sparks and blood flew.

He whirled around, his massive fists hammering down at Lucas. Lucas dodged, blades catching the blow and redirecting it with a hiss of energy. The ground cracked where Agram’s punch landed.

Kaela came from the side, her axes spinning. One buried into Agram’s shoulder. The other hacked across his ribs, breaking a plate of armor. He roared in pain and backhanded her with such force she skipped across the rocks.

Elira didn’t pause. Her arrows rained down, each one tipped with specialized enchantments—piercing, burning, freezing. Every shot found a gap in his armor. Luna launched at Agram’s feet, drawing his attention just long enough for Lucas to charge again.

Lucas’s blades moved like phantoms. He spun, slashed, and darted away, using the terrain to his advantage. He vaulted from wall to ledge, striking and fading like a ghost.

Agram tried to focus, but they were coordinated. Too fast. Too smart.

He slammed an elbow, catching Lucas mid-air, launching him into a wall with a grunt.

But Lucas rose.

Pain was irrelevant now.

"Will of the Unbroken!"

[Skill Activation: Will of the Unbroken – Full Stack Engaged. Pain threshold exceeded. All stats increased by 40%. Duration: Until combat ends.]

A new light surged through him.

His eyes glowed faint gold. His blades became arcs of raw determination.

Kaela staggered to her feet. "You good?"

Lucas smiled. "More than good."

They came at Agram again—Kaela up front, axes blazing; Lucas behind, carving weak spots; Elira hammering pressure from above.

The Warhound was slowing.

His swings were still monstrous, but they lacked precision.

He slammed the ground.

"Enough!"

[Skill Activation: Earth Reaver]

The ravine buckled. Stone exploded upward, tossing Kaela into the air. Elira barely leapt to another ledge before the section she stood on collapsed. Lucas flew back, but mid-fall, he twisted and landed with a skid.

{Lucas, his stamina is dropping. The sigils are bleeding him. You must end this now.}

"I need more time!"

Elira’s voice came sharp. "We’ll get it for you!"

She leapt from her perch, Luna alongside her, and slammed a volley of arrows into Agram’s back, forcing him forward—into the center of the trap.

Kaela dropped from above with a shout, lightning surging across her gauntlets. She drove her axes into the cracked chestplate, splitting it further.

Agram roared, lashing out blindly.

Kaela was hurled to the side—but not before Lucas appeared in her place.

[Skill Fusion – Umbra + Kaela + Elira Synergy: Trinity Breaker]

A golden glow exploded around him, fed by mana from his allies through the new system conduit.

He launched forward, breaking the sound barrier.

His blades crossed Agram’s chest in an X—then again, and again.

Each strike cracked armor. Each strike was vengeance.

The final blow ignited with divine light, driving Agram back.

The ravine collapsed beneath them.

The world shattered in white.