Story Summary

After the events of Symphony of the Night, Richter Belmont disappears and hands off the whip to the Morrises, unknown to the outside world. The rest of the Belmont family, instrumental in protecting humanity from Dracula’s cyclical return, disappears as well. In their absence, panic strikes those in power at the church. The Belmonts’ whip, the Vampire Killer, is the only known weapon that can destroy Dracula.

So, a replacement is necessary. New blood- new heroes that can face the ever-reviving Dark Lord as his resurrection grows nearer and nearer. In the dawn of the nineteenth century, many organizations are formed to perhaps find a way to defeat Dracula in the Belmonts' stead. This is where a priest named Barlowe begins one of his own- the Order of Ecclesia. He creates a system of magic called glyphs, a sort of artistic channeling that taps the magic present in all things. He creates, with the aid of his researchers, a glyph called Dominus, the one hope of destroying Dracula once more, and trains children to one day wield the glyph- including Albus, his head researcher, and Shanoa, a skilled warrior and the main protagonist of the game.

However, on the day Shanoa is to become the bearer of Dominus, Albus interrupts the ritual, stealing the tomes containing the glyph. This leaves Shanoa unconscious- and after she recovers, she's been left without her memories or emotions. Some weeks after, Barlowe retrains her in the basics of glyph magic, with the goal of catching Albus, who's now on the run. Dominus is vital to saving humanity- so that humanity need not fear the darkness.

So, the chase is on, with Shanoa's only reason to push forward being her duty as Ecclesia's warrior. However, as she soon discovers... Not all is as it seems. What is the secret of Dominus, and why did Albus steal it...?

After the events of Symphony of the Night, Richter Belmont disappears and hands off the whip to the Morrises, unknown to the outside world. The rest of the Belmont family, instrumental in protecting humanity from Dracula’s cyclical return, disappears as well. In their absence, panic strikes those in power at the church. The Belmonts’ whip, the Vampire Killer, is the only known weapon that can destroy Dracula.

So, a replacement is necessary. New blood- new heroes that can face the ever-reviving Dark Lord as his resurrection grows nearer and nearer. In the dawn of the nineteenth century, many organizations are formed to perhaps find a way to defeat Dracula in the Belmonts' stead. This is where a priest named Barlowe begins one of his own- the Order of Ecclesia, for his own ends- to resurrect the count.

He gains the trust and funding from those in power for his organization, Ecclesia, He creates a system of magic called glyphs, a sort of artistic channeling that taps the magic present in all things- and after failing to break the seal containing Dracula, he, out of Dracula's remains, creates a sort of ultimate glyph called Dominus. The one who uses it will die as a sacrifice to resurrect Dracula. He keeps up the facade of having been founded to STOP Dracula, not revive him, and adopts several children to condition into being the perfect vessels for this ultimate power.

There are two in particular of note: Albus, the headstrong researcher and antagonist of the first part of the game, invested in the science behind the magic that Ecclesia created, and Shanoa, a serious warrior-magician who is dedicated to duty above all else- the game's protagonist. They have a sibling-like relationship and Albus takes his responsibility as her big brother very seriously. Albus’s research leads him to find out about Dominus’s effect on the user, a sacrifice he cannot stand for as Shanoa had been chosen to bear the Glyph. He asks Barlowe to allow him to be the bearer in her place, and Barlowe agrees, to shut him up, and sends him off on a mission abroad, intending perform the ritual while he’s away.

Albus returns prematurely on a hunch, outraged at having been lied to- just in time to interrupt before Shanoa could perform the rite and take her own life. However, her memories and emotions had already been given up to Dominus, which put her in a position where Barlowe could even more easily manipulate her. After the scene of chaos Albus had escaped, intending to further research Dominus and use it himself to save humanity, not knowing its true purpose. This research leads him to the idea of using the blood of Belmonts to control its dark power. This leads him to the quaint village of Wygol: the place where the scattered Belmont descendents reconvened and lived peacefully together, mostly unaware of the blood ties that bind them together. He traps them all in stasis and takes their blood samples. However, Shanoa has been sent to hunt him down, as the retrieval of Dominus is imperative to Barlowe’s plan. Along the way, though, she stops to rescue the villagers, absorbing the glyphs they were trapped within. Shanoa, though emotionless, is almost tormented by this aspect of herself, the tragedy of having nothing, no “self”. But her quest to retrieve Dominus- no matter whether Albus lives to tell the tale- takes precedence.

Albus’s eventual attempt to safely absorb Dominus fails. In making contact with the dark glyph, his body indeed becomes its vessel- an absence for something old and terrible to inhabit. He becomes a puppet for Dracula- or maybe that’s all he and Shanoa ever were, with their loyalty to Barlowe. Barlowe instructs Shanoa to kill Albus, when she reports back on his corrosion. She does, mercilessly, though she comments that she feels pity despite her emotionless nature. She pities him. His body dies in agony, murdered by Shanoa during the ensuing fight, but his soul lives on within Dominus, which Shanoa absorbed, thanks to the essence of the villagers she had taken in when she freed them from the Torpor glyphs. With this newfound clarity, and the failure of his initial plan, Albus finally stops trying to solve everything on his own, and explains everything to Shanoa- that Barlowe had been manipulating them all, that he wanted her dead, and he asks his little sister to promise never to use Dominus.

When she meets up with her master again at Ecclesia’s cathedral, she refuses to become a sacrifice- and Barlowe becomes enraged, his goals just out of reach. He reveals, then, that his intent was always to revive Dracula, to force Shanoa to give up her life to that who she had sworn to destroy. After a climactic battle, Barlowe, dying, crawls towards the seal that kept Dracula all this time, and dies. He becomes the sacrifice, and despite how hard Shanoa fought to stop it, Dracula is revived.

She laments that she has nothing left, that she’s empty, but progresses towards the castle anyway. All that remains is her important, original mission: Destroy Dracula. However, as they battle, she realizes that she cannot kill him. None of her attacks can end him... Except one. Reluctantly, she breaks her promise, and uses Dominus, believing she will indeed die for humanity. However... Dominus requires a single soul, no more.

Albus, always trying to solve everything behind the scenes, found this loophole, and makes his ephemeral ghost the sacrifice in Shanoa’s place- a reflection of his original plan. Using the glyph unseals her emotions and memories from within it with Albus’s help, though she believes at first that this gift is only that she can feel happiness as she dies. She’s horrified to learn that Albus’s soul is the true cost, but thankful. They have only a moment to say farewell, and Shanoa asks if there’s any way to repay him. All he asks for is a smile. She obliges; he fades away; the castle crumbles to dust.

Ecclesia’s story is left forgotten.