The Downfall of Evil

## **Reign of the Dragon**

Mathias, now having renamed himself in full to Vlad 'Dracula' Ţepeş, had risen over the years to become the the undisputed strongest of vampire-kind and the leader of his race. Pursued and hunted by the descendants of Leon, and reviled by those of knew of his existence, he had developed a pure hatred of humanity, and a reputation for sheer brutality, becoming infamous for impaling his victims alive and slaughtering entire villages should they cross him. This rampage across Romania continued until Leon's grandson, Cristian Belmont, managed to near-vanquish the lord of vampires, with the aid of the family heirloom the Vampire Killer, plus a newly created weapon - the Morning Star. Thinking himself invincible at this point, Dracula was horrified that such a thing could happen, and retreated before he could be truly killed, entering into a deep state of hibernation and hidden from the world.

By the late medieval period of Europe, Dracula had permanently settled in Wallachia, Romania. There he lived inside his dwelling of Castlevania, a colossal gothic castle that had seemed to appear as if out of magic itself, and which was capable of teleporting to wherever Dracula deemed. With the exception of his vampiric guards and servants, none other inhabited the walls, unlike vampires of past with their hordes of monsters and night creatures.

His hatred for humanity still lingered, but he had grown weary in his quest for divine vengeance. Over the centuries, he had come to possess a vast wealth of mystical but also scientific knowledge, which was stored away within the depths of the castle. Studying tomes and creating experiments again became his pastime , as it had once been all those years ago as Mathias. Dracula would order his guards to raid and capture members of the local populace to use as sources of nutrition, and on the rare occasion would travel out himself, and delight in gorging himself on the blood of an entire village.

In order to deter unwanted visitors or robbers from entering, Dracula had the impaled corpses of his victims displayed at the front of the castle grounds. A warning that promised a brutal and painful death to those willing to ignore it. Those who were permitted within his domain were those of vampiric nobility, powerful vampires who while controlling their own regions and making their own plays recognised Dracula as their true leader, and would offer him tribute accordingly.

## **Ghosts of the Past**

In the year 1455, Dracula had truly become a recluse. The only remining inhabitant of Castlevania, he had slaughtered his guards and servants in his increasing isolative desires.

One fateful night, a visitor came knocking upon the great doors of the castle: a woman named Lisa who was conducting research to improve her knowledge of medicine and wished to become a doctor. She had come to Castlevania, the only human brave enough to have done so willingly in centuries to learn of the science that only Dracula was rumored to hold. Sleighted at first by her boldness, he demanded her immediate departure, lest he eviscerate and feed upon her. Though his surprise and turned amusement, Lisa showed no fear towards him, demanding herself that he treat her as a guest, and to acquest to her request. Despite his loathing for humanity and his original plan to kill the trespasser, Dracula found himself strangely attracted to this soft spoken but forcefully willed woman, cautiously welcoming Lisa into his home. While the two familiarised themselves with one another, it dawned upon him the reason for his initial attraction: Lisa resembled in body and mind that of his late wife, Elisabetha.

As she had requested, he made her privy to his collection, learning that all she truly wanted was that of which she had spoken of; to learn. He introduced her to what many would have though was sorcery and magic, but was really the lost knowledge of prior civilisations, the collective science of history. With the more time the two spent together with Lisa learning all that she could, Dracula became slowly enamored with her, eventually asking for her hand in marriage. To his initial surprise, Lisa accepted, and the two exchanged their vows to one another, while Lisa continued in her studies within the castle.

Later on, Lisa bore the couple a son; a dhampir they named Adrian, a cherubic child possessed of flowing blonde hair like his mother. While the family resided within Castlevania, Lisa soon set up a cottage outside of Targoviste, Wallachia, where she continued her research into medicine and served as a healer, aiding the local folk. Her reputation among Targoviste grew, and soon she found herself with a plethora of clients, who turned to her for help with their ailments when prayers to God alone failed.

It was during his travels that Dracula came across two humans, both misanthropic towards their own kind, named Hector and Isaac. Both had grown up experiencing neglect, abuse and treatment from their own loved ones that no child should ever suffer, which has subsequently skewed their wider views towards humanity. Hector's hatred was borne from the result of his hard childhood. As a child, he discovered an ability to reanimate dead animals, which he tried to keep as pets. For this, he was despised by his mother, who wished he'd never been born, and his father, a selfish alchemist. Eventually, Hector burned his house to the ground with his parents inside of it. After shunning human contact or they rejecting him, Hector eventually moved to live a solitary life in Rhodes, Greece, to where Dracula discovered him on his travels. Isaac on the other hand began life as a slave, and was viciously lashed as a child by his master, who discovered him going through his books, despite Isaac doing so in an attempt to help him. This drove Isaac to his breaking point, where, in a fit of rage, he killed the man. This left Isaac with a grudge against all humans, including brigand magicians who wished to sell his body parts and whom Dracula rescued him from.

They both recognised the great power within Dracula, and pledged their loyalty to him, should a time come when he ever needed their aid.

## **Fire from the Sky**

In 1475, Dracula's world once more came to an abrupt and tragic end. One night, while returning home from his travels, he discovered that the cottage was completely burned down. He then encountered Mrs. Djuvara, an elderly village local who had been treated by Lisa for her ailments. Coming across her while she was laying flowers outside the ruined building, Dracula learned from her that Lisa was arrested on false charges of witchcraft, and she was sentenced to death by the Bishop of Gresit. Enraged, Dracula abandoned any remaining humanity within himself and became enraged with the fires of Hell itself. He then warned Mrs. Djuvara to take her family and leave Wallachia before teleporting away in a pillar of flame.

Arriving at the site of Lisa's execution through means of astral projection, Dracula demanded to know what happened to his wife. When the Bishop proclaimed that she was a witch and that he himself was just a myth, the lord of all vampires was angered and gave the people of Targoviste one year to make their peace with God before his return to destroy them. Returning to his castle, Dracula prepared to summon an army from Hell within one year. He was confronted however by his son Adrian, who begged Dracula to reconsider in the name of his mother, arguing that Lisa would have been disgusted by her husband's swift action to brutality, and that he would murdering hundreds of innocents by doing so. Dracula retorted violently that there were no innocents left, because no one acted to save Lisa. Father and son soon engaged in a fierce battle, to which Dracula emerged the clear victor, wounding his son but allowing him to leave and retreat, where Adrian went into hiding from his vengeful father, far too broken to face him.

Now truly overcome with grief and vengeance, Dracula approached both Hector and Isaac respectively to help create his new army, though to differing perspectives. Isaac immediately understood and agreed with his master's need for genocide, while Hector preferred a more humane way of culling humans while not necessarily wiping them out altogether. Nonetheless, both parties agreed to aid the former in building an army of Night Creatures from the dead, with Dracula granting them powers and knowledge of necromantic magics and demonology, training the to become Forgemasters.

## **Reckoning in Blood**

A year had passed since Lisa's death, with the anniversary of her burning being celebrated as a festival by the townsfolk, the cleansing of witchcraft from their humble way of life. Outside the cathedral, the Archbishop congratulated his flock for their piety and their success in earning God's love. He scoffed that 'the Devil' had tried to frighten them with empty threats, but here they were, one year later, alive and well, with nothing to fear from the Devil's lies and illusions, and all was merry.

His speech of congratulations however, came too soon. As he finished his boasts, the sky began to darken with great black ominous clouds, and blood rained from the sky, turning the crowd's frivolity to horror and panic. The cathedral's windows shattered against rabidly growing winds, raining huge shards of lethal glass upon the gathered crowds, with the Archbishop and his priests struck and impaled. Clinging on to his last dredges of life, the Archbishop had just enough strength left in him to look up and see flames envelop the cathedral and form Dracula's face. The vampire lord proclaimed that he gave the people a chance to flee, but instead of heeding his warnings, they mocked the day of his wife's death, celebrating her ritualistic murder. In an explosion of fire and thunder, Castlevania arose amid the streets of Targoviste, ripping through the ground itself and releasing an army of Hellish monsters that began the massacre of the inhabitants of the city. They should no mercy or remorse as they tore through the population, with Dracula commanding them that once Targoviste was burned to the ground, to spread throughout the rest of Wallachia.

## **The Birth of a Hero**

It was around this time that Trevor Belmont had made his way to Murdenu, a small village on the outskirts of Gresit, with the intent of making his way into the city on hearing of attacks by Night Creatures. While at first unconcerned with the great implications of the events unfolding, he soon came to learn that there was something much bigger at stake, and that Dracula had re-emerged, and once was again threatening life in Romania, if not this time, in the world.

Along the way he found allies in the Seeker Sypha, and the long forgotten son of Dracula, Adrian Tepes, now calling himself Alucard. Together the three of them vowed to end Dracula's genocide upon humanity and rid the world of it's greatest evil, as lofty a goal as that may be.

## **War on Humanity**

With his army of Night Creatures now spread across Romania, Dracula gathered his war council, summoning powerful vampires from all over the world to attend a summit within the walls of Castlevania.

As his court began to flood with attenders, gathered at his call, his generals came forward. First there were Hector and Isaac, his two human forgemasters who were the key to creating his army of Night Creatures. Following them was Godbrand, a Viking vampire who loved nothing more than the thrill of the hunt. Next were Raman and Sharma, vampire rulers from India, followed by Chō, a particularly cruel and violent vampire from Northern Japan who held a hidden court where she would torture her subjects and slaves for her own amusement. Dragoslav and Zufall followed up, a Slavic and Germanic vampire pair who served as Dracula's bodyguard and strategical advisor. And lastly was Carmilla, self appointed 'Queen' of Styria, a enchanting but manipulative and ruthless, who secretly harboured resentment towards Dracula, seeing him as a foolish old man who squandered his title of his kind's ruler..

When Dracula announced that Hector and Isaac would lead the war efforts, the other vampires were disgusted, seeing it as a betrayal that Dracula would give his 'pets' such power. Carmilla enraged the lord of vampires when she boldly questioned as to why he had never turned Lisa, and was met with seething rebuttal, warned that she was lucky to keep her head for such impudence. Nevertheless, the war began, with Dracula sending out his armies across Romania, where the land fell under a terrible massacre.

## **The Fall of a King**

Having discovered the remnants of the old Belmont hold, and arming themselves with new equipment, the trio of Trevor, Sypha and Alucard set out to combat the increasing attacks around the country, before finding the location of Castlevania itself and storming it, commencing a fierce battle against Dracula's forces.

Between the three heroes, backed by the human armies of Gresit, most of Dracula's court was eradicated, including the likes of Raman, Sharma, Dragoslav and Zufall. Carmilla, sensing that all was lost, escaped back to Styria, kidnapping and taking Hector with her to serve as her own forgemaster, while Isaac was transported by Dracula out into the desert that he found him in, as an act of mercy so that Isaac would be spared from the ongoing carnage.

Alucard eventually came fact to face with Dracula, standing where they stood years ago, before engaging in battle once more. Though as before, even with his new skills and training, the son found himself at the mercy of his father, and inadequate to defeat him. It was only with the help of Trevor and Sypha that Dracula was pushed back, but even then, he proved more than a match for the three of them, a descendant of the legendary Belmonts, a powerful Seeker mage and his own half-vampire child. The three were beaten mercilessly and viciously across the castle, until Alucard and his father ended up in Alucard's childhood room, where Dracula seemed to regain his senses and even a shred of his humanity, realising that he was killing his and Lisa's son, the most treasured gift that she had given him. Alucard used the opportunity to stake his father, and tearfully bade him goodbye, hoping that he would find peace along with his late mother, with Sypha burning Dracula's remnants to remove him from existence for good.

Following Dracula's defeat, a semblance of normality was restored to Wallachia, and Trevor and Sypha left to travel the land, rooting out further evil, while Alucard chose to remain within Castlevania, gifted access to the Belmont Hold by Trevor.

## **The Darkness in Men's Hearts**

Trevor and Sypha had spent months travelling, working as monster slayers and removing any further traces of Dracula's minions, when they came to a small town named Linderfeld that felt at odds. It was there they met the mysterious alchemist Saint Germain, who claimed to be investigating into the local priory and the monks within, indicating that they were hiding something that they did not want uninvited eyes to witness.

It was soon discovered by Trevor and Sypha, along with the aid of the old alchemist, that the monks were working to resurrect Dracula, and using a creature they dubbed 'The Visitor' to aid them, a Night Creature who had appeared in Lindenfeld, and the monks had subsequently crucified and were using in a dark ritual. Saint Germain's true intent was revealed as well; in reality, he was trying to find an access an item he believed to be in the monk's possession, a portal to the Infinite Corridor, a gate to other dimensions that he had once lost his partner in and been searching for her ever since.

The scheme to resurrect the dark lord was foiled, and the monks stopped, with most of them slain in the ensuing conflict. Saint Germain however, took his chance, and while the Infinite Corridor was still open, having been used to try and bring Dracula back into the world, jumped inside with the intent of finding his lost love, seemingly now lost to the world. Trevor and Sypha left Lindenfeld, and continued with their fight against the servants of the dark.

## **Reunion**

Trevor and Spyha traveled back to Targoviste, where they aided with the reconstruction of the city in the aftermath of Dracula's attack, though they were pursued by a mysterious vampire named Varney. They assisted the city in the name of the Targovistian Royal family, only to find out that the royals were long dead, being guarded by delusional fanatics who believed them to be slumbeing mages, who would wake again one day to restore Targoviste to its former glory.

After aiding the city, they received word that a massive vampire attack had fallen on Dracula's old castle, and the Belmont hold hidden beneath, and raced to join the resistance.

Trevor and Sypha soon found themselves back in the company of Alucard, who had become broken and despondent in the trio's time away from one another. At first he had been haunted by the loneliness he felt, both by the death of both his parents and the absence of his friends. But then he had welcomed two escapees from Chō's court, teaching them to slay vampires and coming to live with them as friends and lovers, only for them to try and assassinate him when they believed he was withholding ancient magic and weapons from them. He had soon after been summoned to the town of Danesti, where he had aided the people in their fight against rampant invading Night Creatures. The town had almost become overwhelmed, when Saint Germain had re-emerged, and convinced Alucard to retreat to Castlevania, along with the remaining townspeople.

## **Unhallowed Ground**

The three held off the vampiric invasion, alongside the townspeople of Danesti, but Saint Germain's reasoning for suggesting Castlevania as a haven had been less than altruistic it seemed. While traversing the Infinite Corridor, he had come across a being introducing herself only as The Alchemist, who had promised to bring Saint Germain's love back to him, provided he proved to her that he could control the Infinite Corridor itself. To that end, he would have tap into the power of death itself, and create a Rebis, said to be the ultimate being who could provide Saint Germain with the control that he had needed. Saint Germain revealed he had been contacted by and working with Varney, who promised to aid him in his endeavors.

He proceeded to drain the souls of the townspeople of Danesti to the trio's horror, creating a portal to Hell, where he revealed that he would retrieve and fuse the souls of Dracula and Lisa into the Rebis, and created a barrier around himself so his work could not be interrupted.

While Trevor, Sypha and Alucard fought to vanquish the hordes of the night, Saint Germain, completed his work, creating the Rebis with the fused souls of Dracula and his wife. The two souls sharing a single body drove them both mad, with the Rebis unleashing unimaginable destructive power. Horrified as his creation and coming to his senses, Saint Germain moved to undo the abomination, when Varney appeared, and stopped the old alchemist, informing him that it was in fact himself who had orchestrated the events to bring about the creation of the Rebis.

## **Death Upon Us All**

Varney revealed to Saint Germain that he was both Varney, both also The Alchemist that the old scholar has encountered within the Infinite Corridor. He had manipulated Saint Germain into creating the ultimate being to bring destruction upon the world, and create death upon a scale which had never been seen. When Saint Germain demanded to know why the vampire had gone to these lengths, Varney mocked the old man, saying that Dracula would have brough devastation unknown upon the world with his genocide upon humanity, but was prevented from doing so, and robbed Varney of his ultimate goal: the consumption of the world's souls.

Varney then revealed himself to be none other than Death.

With the completion of the Rebis, an explosion erupted from the portal, and Saint Germain was ripped from it before accomplishing the only thing he sought; to be reunited with his love. Trevor and Sypha arrive to find Saint Germain mortally wounded and Death beginning to absorb power from the Infinite Corridor, infusing himself with further souls of the departed. He explained how he had once served Walter in hopes that the genocide of humans would gift him with the nourishment he needed, and when Leon foiled his plans, he bid his time for several centuries, until a new vampire lord arose, but he too was defeated by the cursed Belmonts. Now that he wielded the Rebis, mass spread death would be his to command.

With the Belmont's duty as the vanquishers of evil, Trevor prepared to face off against the evil behind everything.

## **The Last Fight**

Upon the tallest spire rooftop of Castlevania, the last son of the Belmont Clan dueled with Death. The battle was like none that Trevor had ever weathered, leaving him down within an inch of his life, his body near-eviscerated and covered in wounds of every kind. It was only through the combined power of the Morning Star, the magic within the Vampire Killer and his own sheer willpower than he was able to finally banish the evil entity from existence.

While the fight was over, Death's defeat caused an explosion of unfathomable ferocity atop the castle, with Trevor caught in the blast zone.

The castle was finally cleared of the vampire horde, and there was great rejoicement over the victory. It was however, bittersweet for Sypha. Since their meeting and subsequently long journey together, she and Trevor had become lovers and partners, and now she was left in a world without him, carrying their child. She at first resolved to return to her people and raise the baby, but Alucard convinced her that she should stay, for she was among friends here, having formed lasting relationships with himself and those who had come to the fight for Castlevania. Alucard concluded that they would build a settlement around the ruins of Castlevania and the Hold, naming the village 'Belmont' in Trevor's memory.

## **The Prodigal Son**

Several weeks had passed since the final events and Death's defeat. Construction of the new village was well underway, with Alucard, Sypha and Greta, the former leader of the group from Danesti serving as the founders. While Castlevania served as the centerpiece, houses had been built, along with amenities such as a school, a village shop and a healer's hut. The displaced people of Danesti along with the remaining heroes had come together to form a community, free from the troubles and evil that had plagued the world for so long.

Although having found a new family, Sypha still had her doubts, and once more prepared to leave to rejoin the Seekers. Alucard made an attempt to stop her, though before their discussion could be concluded, the village was approached by a single horse with a lone and wounded rider atop, with the two rushing to meet it as the rider's body fell to the ground.

In equal parts dismayed and relived, they discovered the rider to be Trevor, having been missing for weeks and presumed dead, consumed in the explosion that rattled Castlevania. Though badly wounded, he was still alive, and taken to the healer's hut promptly, where he remained for several days in a comatose state.

Days later, Trevor awoke from his slumber, much to the relief of all, especially Sypha, who was torn whether to embrace him as her love or chastise him for making her worry. While Trevor could not fully explain his survival, he theorised that with his last ounce of strength and as an act of repentance, Saint Germain had opened a portal to the Infinite Corridor that had saved Trevor from the blast, but thrown him into the void.

Reunited and together again, the trio settled into their now quiet life among the other villagers. The threat was over, but they knew that evil would never truly be vanquished, and so while they could afford to live in peace, they would always need to be prepared for whatever was to come. Dracula may be gone, but the Belmonts would always serve as guardians against evil, in whatever form it would take.