Almost a half-century had passed
before the groundswell of evil again began to grow to a boil. A sure sign of
its impending uprising was the sudden emergence of the dark priest named Shaft.
Shaft, who was a master in the black arts, wanted nothing short of world conquest
for all of his kind. Knowing that the power of the vampire hunters might be
too much of an obstacle, he gathered together his followers and held an unholy
ritual where they sacrificed a young woman with one goal in mind: To resurrect
Count Dracula. The success of their ritual beckoned the return of the Dark Lord
and his feared estate, Castlevania, which emerged from the depths as a dire
warning of evil's holiday.
Shaft's intention was to play the role of subservient to Dracula, whose leadership
was surely the key to the victory he so desired.
Dracula,
now more wise to his opponents' sense of justice and fragile emotional status
in light of his encounters with Soleiyu Belmont and Maxim Kischine, formed a
plan: He knew that his only true hope to defeat the Belmonts was to use the
dirtiest of tactics in attempt to blind their justice-seeking nature and coerce
them as he had the others. If he could only take something of theirs, he thought,
maybe he could achieve this goal. With the dark priest Shaft by his side, he
certainly had an edge.
In the meantime, Richter
Belmont was living a peaceful life with his girlfriend, Annet Renard; their
sense of peace was shattered when one night, without warning, Dracula's plan
was hatched: His minions arrived in Warakiya and began ravaging the entire town,
destroying people's homes and setting the surrounding area ablaze. Masked by
the chaos was their capturing of Annet Renard and her younger sister, Maria,
along with local nurse Iris and nun Tera all of, all of whom the townspeople
held in high esteem. These four were specifically targeted because their abduction
was sure to threaten the town's prosperity and simultaneously enrage
the young Belmont, who was rumored to be carrying his legacy as a heavy burden.
Richter was studying a
rough sketch of Castlevania's interior when the sounds of violence clued him
in the devilish invasion; his attention turned to the view outside his window,
which served as portal to the scene of burly demons laying waste to nearby buildings
and whatever remained of his hometown. Without hesitation, he grabbed hold of
the Vampire Killer whip and mystic sub-weapons and hopped into action, quickly
terminating both the demon invaders and the hordes of skeletons that began rising
from their graves. But it was too late: The town lay in ruins, and four women,
including his beloved, had been kidnapped.
Richter
hopped into his horse-pulled carriage and raced toward Castlevania. Moments
after his departure, Death flew in from the blindside to instigate some mind
games; he began tossing his spinning sickle at Richter while mocking the youth's
efforts to counter the assault. Richter managed to his hold his own in the brief
clash , but it was clear that Death's appearance was only intentioned to send
a message; having successfully played his role, Death soon retreated, flying
off into the distance. Undeterred, Richter raced onward and arrived at the castle.
Once inside, he plowed through the main halls and located Shaft in an underground
ceremonial room, where the dark priest was holding Maria in suspended animation,
no doubt ready to banish her into a netherworld; the cowardly Shaft released
the spell at the very sight of Richter, vanishing hastily and leaving behind
the conscious, relieved Maria. Though weary from the day's events, the magically
gifted Maria was more than happy to offer assistance to Richter in the form
of her powerful animal-based spells. Continuing
on together, the pair rushed through the castle and its outland, their mission
to battle and defeat the same old faces of evil and rescue their friends and
loved ones. They were successful on all fronts, and their determined effort
carried them to Dracula's doorstep.
As they neared the castle
heights, Shaft intervened with his nostalgic bag of tricks, but even his
considerable dark magic wasn't enough to deter the persistent heroes, who struck
him down with righteous fury. Though, their victory was otherwise colored by
an unrealized parting shot: The badly injured Shaft, being the true mastermind
that he was, wasn't completely defeated and only feigned as much; without notice,
he cast upon Richter a sinister spell that wouldn't take effect until much later.
As far as appearances went, the dark priest was out of the picture, and his
absence granted them unrestricted access to the castle's twisted clock tower;
it's within these mechanical confines where Richter located Annet's specially
locked holding chamber and proceeded to rescued her. With their reunion came
great relief, and the reinvigorated Richter, now free from his burden, was more
than ever committed to vanquishing Count Dracula. He hurried his way to the
heights of the castle keep, where he engaged the Dark Lord first with damning
words and then his potent whip. The confrontation played out as it had in the
past, which Richter emerging victorious as had his ancestors. Dracula was again
expelled from this world, as was his demonic castle.
Following his escape, Richter
stood atop a nearby mountain cliff and stared down the crumbling castle filled
with a sense of peace and triumph. He thereafter met up with his future family,
the Renards, who were waiting intently and shared with him a loving embrace.
The punctuating sunset their only backdrop, the trio began their long journey
home.
Page 11: Awake
from His Slumber | Back to Page 9
