1. Break the seal of the castle entrance
2. Send the King Skeleton running
3. Unlock the gates
4. Destroy the King Skeleton and gain access to the tower


You begin control of Schneider in the midst of an eerie, wolf howl-filled rainstorm, after he performs a quick "cross my heart and hope not to die" prayer. The muddy soil gives way to your reinforced boots, then splashes with the water it is saturated with as you start to drudge forward to the Dark Lord's sanctuary. On your way to a large fork in the road, a nearby tree is struck by lightning. You think to yourself that lightning this predictable (and close) is probably not the result of Mother Nature.

The journey under way at last
The burning cinders cannot be safely touched until the flames are doused by the freezing downpour. There is a safe area to walk on each side of the toasted tree, warm your hands by the raging redwood on your way past and then halt your steps before a second falling trunk of living firewood. Note: if for some reason the storm ends (which occurs at day time) before you reach the tree, you will have nothing to worry about. Ignore the path to the right for now and walk up to the small deadend, hauntingly lit by three lanterns.
This small area, and then larger open area where you first appeared, are perfect places to practice the positions, attacks and advanced techniques. Aiming ability can be tested on the three lanterns here. To reach the highest windblown flames you will have to leap up to, and then pull yourself atop, the lower stone block to the right. From there repeat the "leap and pull" on the high pillar. These destructible objects will supply you with a soggy bone of Roast Beef, a ruby red gem and the Throwing Knife.

Make no bones
Now, take the other path leading away from the fork and you will come upon a skeleton of a long-dead man. You notice that the bones are all connected properly, unusual for a corpse subjected to such unfriendly weather. Make your way a bit further on the slippery road and you will find the dead body of what appears to be a local villager. As your back faces the moss-tinged skeleton, it starts to shudder and rise from the ground. Two other animated skeletons will dig out of the slushy dirt and approach you.

Smash the seal
Kill the skeleton crew with your developing whip martial arts. You may have to jump over a skeleton or two to avoid becoming surrounded. After you are finished busting those bony brutes, continue down the path until a huge gate is reached. Use the Belmont family whip to shatter the spiritual seal locking the front gate (this may take two or three attempts). You may now enter the vindictive vampire's domain...after you defeat his lower guardian!

Hail to the King, baby!
Charging out of the enormous double doors, while splashing water and mud in all directions, is a giant, club-equipped skeleton. Dodge the gorilla-like undead beast and then run up to it and commence whipping. He will club the ground and summon two skeletons at a time, or rear back on his haunches and let out a forest-cleaning, head-splattering club swing that can kill you and his own skeletal minions in a split second. Jump over or run out of range of his attack. Follow the guardian's moves and grab any collectible objects from the dead man-sized skeletons. When it is about to bite the drenched dust, the giant skeleton will make a last stand near a deadly chasm and a lantern (containing 500 gold). When it has had enough punishment from the murderous whip strikes you are spraying it with, the gorilla giant will take a dive into the river far below and then disappear into the fog bank.

The way ahead - clear or foggy?
For reasons unknown, the act of the guardian taking a dip will cuase rise to two segmented parts of what was once a bridge. Jump across the two brick sections (turning to the right to view the giant skeleton moving away into the fog along the riverbed below) and then keep heading straight. The number of skeleton encounters will now increase greatly, so do not think that every bony battler needs to be broken into bits. Just continue your quest once you have skillfully cleared a group from your path. Soon you will come across a fork in the path. To the left is a gate and a lantern (containing a white "save point" diamond or jewel), and to the right is the place you need to explore next.

Fiddling on the roof
Pass underneath the large stone arch and come up to two small open temple-like structures, with a lantern on top of, and within each. The two lanterns within contain a Moon and Sun Card respectively, while the top torches contain a Red Jewel and a Roast Chicken. To gain access to the top torches you will have to jump atop the lowest structure from either the two stairs on the left, or the higher level ground near the higher structure. From the lower structure you can easily jump to the higher structure. Next, drop down and head down the path to the right of the highest lantern room.

The real king of lions
Jump across the broken bridges suspended over a murky pool of deep liquid. Two bats will attack from the trees. Use the Auto-Aim Attacking technique (perfected in the Training section of this tome) to easily down both black blood-suckers. This efficient and effective attacking tactic can also be used to break apart the multiple skeletal pursuers that will rise when you activate the switch here. Unfortunately for you, the skeletons have a striped and muscular leader, a tiger-man-beast that can pound your skull into the saturated top-soil like a meaty mallet. Should you receive a grapple, continuously check your health situation and pause for chicken once more than half your energy has been sapped. Avoid the grip of the tiger thug, and take care with your footing, an unexpected plunge to the river of who-knows-what flowing through the chasm during the after-switch fight is not a wise move. Before returning to the gate near the first save point, replenish your body with a hearty man meal, and shatter the lantern for a bag of 500 gold.

A long forgotten horde of gold!
Across the bridge on the way back to the gate, you will have your first encounter with the blue bomb-skull bone-men. These must be dealt with using the concept of distance - either let them explode far away from you when their fuse runs out, or whip them from a safe range. Ignore all the lanterns you run across, since you have already emptied them, and pause only near the gate for the Save Jewel. Save your progress and then kill the bone-hurling skeleton standing in the gate.
Enter the next section, whipping through any bony obstructions, to the dried-out fountain within a square stone section. Exhume the incredibly powerful Cross weapon from a lantern atop the diminutive center pillar, and then drop down and examine the placard on the right of the pillar. You will find enough meat wedged inside the etching of "The maiden sings a dirge" to form a complete Roast Chicken! Now check a boulder with less moss surrounding it on the cliffside nearby for a whopping haul of loot! Strike the boulder with your knife to claim 2500 gold! Next, make a short detour into the small mausoleum near the gate for a bag of 100 gold, and then head down the path to the right.

Locating the grating...another switch
At the fork, make a quick left towards a lantern surrounded by the decomposing bodies of massacred villagers. Hold your breath, and Roast Beef, long enough to save your game with the White Jewel in the lantern. Another lantern is on the other side of a crossroads sign post which contains a Red Jewel. Collect the enchanted ruby and then continue down the path that leads past the large locked gate. Break the next lantern you reach, down the path and around a corner, for more Red Jewels. Cross the shambles of a bridge still remaining over the thin canyon. On the other side you will immediately be the target of a cemetery-load of emaciated enemies. Quickly bust the torch (you may have to use the sword attack since the enemy density is so high) for a lukewarm Roast Beef, slap the switch to open the grating, and move back to the bridge sections as they lower. If you are flit on foot, you can reach the first bridge section before it lowers too far, then "jump and pull" to the top of the next bridge piece. From here, jump to the ledge stones protruding over the gusting chasm, shortening your trip greatly. Otherwise, you have to descend carefully the canyon side, using very small movements to fall down to each successive lower ledge. Next, jump to the bridge sections (double check the angles involved in first person view before jumping), make a difficult jump to the bottom of the next set of ledge stones (using the dead body as an aiming guide, try to hit the outermost edge of the lower ledge, and not the corner!), before finally jumping and pulling your way up to the top (use straight up jumps as much as possible). Obviously, this treacherous route isn't the preferred one.

Charnel house party
At the top, return to the crossroads sign and proceed through the large grating that has now creaked open, pausing only to save beforehand. Kill the bone brandishing skeleton in this gateway and then charge under the arch. This will trigger the return of the bright blue bomb-brained skeletons. There is a lantern just inside the grating that holds an Axe weapon, but the cross is all you need. Fight past the snapping jaws of the animated skeleton horrors to a trio of small mausoleums. Clear out the contents of two of the three tombs of caskets for a Large Red Jewel and a Roast Chicken (climbing is the key, and for added fun, try the sliding attack to break the coffin lids), and then head towards the chasm along the path opposite the large locked gate.

Phantom ledges...and a wolf!
There is a femur-flinging bone baron on a broken bridge section that is need of a "cross" scolding. Leap to the section of an aged brick construction, turn to the left and then run to the platform to the left. Yes, run through the air to the platform! There is an invisible bridge extending to it, and a lantern containing a Special Gem, the power of which is explained deeper into your quest. But for now, return to the bridge section and jump to the next area. Dash through the arch, but pause before walking to within the range of a new lycanthropic killer...avoid the sight of the Werewolf until you're ready to face this horror! The reason is simple: there are four bats to slice apart, and another wayward boulder to smash, revealing a host of goodies.
Walk forward until the Werewolf begins to gallop in for the kill. Use the Cross weapon to clear any skeletons, and possibly to get an easy hit on the crafty canine. This enemy can hop and dive, charge and slice, or spin and claw. Except for the stationary spin and claw, it is best to dodge its lacerating lunges then whip him once or twice before trying to dodge its next berserk barrage of flesh-blending claws. If it is knocked onto its back for a moment, wait until it jumps in the air for another diving kick before whipping the wolf-oid whirlwind out of the gray sky. During the battle be sure to watch your life bar, and do not hesitate to enjoy a moist, life-saving meal.
After the growling beast fades away in a magenta mist, run to the base of the statue fountain ahead and examine it for an only slightly rancid Roast Chicken. Now excavate the nearby crypt of caskets for a Sun Card. Exist the musty cold tomb and then break apart the lantern adjacent to the next large gate you will open. Save your progress by way of the mystical diamond. Run back past the mausoleum and fountain and enter the path leading away from this area.

Third time's a charm
Fight your way around the corner to the left and crack apart a lantern for a Red Jewel. Round a corner to the right and pass a lantern (unless you want the Holy Water weapon) on your way to a craggy cliff, lined with savagely impaled corpses. By the drenched dead is a stone ledge extending into the canyon. Step onto it and the camera view will change to give you an idea of what lies ahead. You must now carefully descend the treacherous wall, dropping to and from the slippery platforms jutting out of the chasm side, to the bottom where you can then leap to a blue-lit island. On the island is a switch that opens the tarnished grating near the three tombs you raided earlier...yes, way up there. For those trekking through the game on the most difficult level (Hard), Bomb Skeletons rise to greet you after the switch is flicked.

A prelude to a bony fracas!
Climb the cascading platforms you previously descended, all the while taking precautions to ensure successful jumps (remembereing that most often, falls are fatal). Return to the three tomb area and proceed through the gates towards a lantern spouting azure fire. Kill the bomb skeleton and then activate the switch that will open the grating near where you last saved. Before trekking back to the nymph fountain save point, hit a lantern in the corner for a juicy bit of Roast Beef. When you get back to the gate, be sure to save before passing through the arch.

The bone King rules no more...
This is the final battle with the Dracula's undead forest guardian! Keep running forward until the giant skeleton scales up over the muddy vliff. The first business of the night will be taking out two phantom Hell's Angels; a couple of crosses sends the two riders skidding into the afterlife. Note that should you leave the motorcycled skeletons to live, the Giant Skeleton does not summon skeletal footsoldiers, meaning you only need to avoid one cavalry charge while focussing on the big guy. Now the strategy for the large gorilla apparition is simple: 1) Dodge his charge, but stay close. 2) Hit him two or three times (whip strikes or a single cross) before or after he raises help from the masses of buried dead (he cannot be hit while striking the ground). 3) After he stumbles and a piece of its body flies off, dodge his escape charge. 4) Repeat steps 2 and 3 until the giant loses its legs. If he spawns a couple of little bony buddies, dispatch them yourself, or let the guardian kill them with its own homerun swing attack ("friendly" fire at its finest!). The safest way to avoid the homerun swing is to retreat out of its range. If this cannot be done, run behind him, stay between his legs or jump and pray for a miss. Once he is crippled, pulverize him for good with a christening Cross right through the middle of that extra eye in his cracked crwon. The guardian can finally rest...baptized by the blood whip of the Belmonts, after which the rusting drawbridge of Dracula's gloomy can be scaled.

Facts about Fernandez...
The little Spanish girl's orb of death, with homing instincts and massive hit potential means Carrie does not need to involve herself in close combat with any enemies at all, on any level. Rather, when facing three skeletons for example, she can fire off her green orb of death, shattering all three. The only drawback to the power is that you can only summon one orb at a time, and you must wait until the first orb dissipates. Remember to add power by releasing the orb after a few seconds of build up. Additionally, use a single tap to launch a small dart-like orb, but these are difficult to aim quickly, and only useful against objects or slow creatures.
Homing capabilities and multi-enemy takedowns during one attack is the key to effectively using the orb. Keeping your distance and firing works fine, but running into close combat, you may wish to fire and then bring out your razor hoop to attack skeletons while the orb splits other skeletons apart. Find yourself being chased by a Bomb Skeleton? Simply hold, then fire off an orb and wait for it to circle behind you and explode the bony freak! Be warned that the orb (when not targeted) homes in sometimes randomly, so try not to get caught in a melee while your orb flits about in the background.

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