In Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse, defeating Dracula in the Throne Room for the first time is not the end of the story. You receive an ending, but then return to the world with your original goal and continue playing. Face Dracula again to reach the conclusion foretold by the prophecy in Notre-Dame.
Quick answer: Complete the four virtue trials in the Gallery of the Four Virtues, beat your shadow (“???”) at the altar and speak to the spirit that appears, then equip Absolution, return to the Court of the Night and defeat Dracula again for the trophy “Curse lifted”.
The prophecy in Notre-Dame points to these steps, and two things are easy to miss: each virtue window only opens with its matching Arcana equipped, and Absolution has to be equipped when Dracula’s second form falls.
What happens after the first ending
Dracula falls on the castle roof, a trophy appears, and a short scene plays before you earn “The hunt goes on”. An epilogue text card, the title screen and a loading screen follow, and then you resume from the Mirror of Life in the Master’s Quarters, back in the Sanctuary of Solitude.
Your equipment remains with you, and every part of the map is still available to explore. The map’s objective continues to say “Find Dracula and defeat him”; the game adds nothing new. Its unchanged instruction signals that the hunt continues.
The prophecy that explains the rest sits on a golden tablet in the Gallery of the Four Virtues, inside Notre-Dame. Titled “THE PROPHECY”, it reads:
Only when the Bells of Virtue ring and humanity overcomes its Self will cursed darkness lift and restore the blessed light.
Complete the four virtue trials in the Gallery of the Four Virtues
The Gallery has four windows bearing verses about Courage, Prudence, Justice and Temperance. Press Interact [R1] (PC: E) at a window to break its glass and fall into a trial (the window stays closed unless you have its corresponding card equipped), which leads to a bell. Ring that bell to return to the cathedral with the virtue’s blessing.
Courage
For the Courage window, put on The Warrior, which carries Infernal Pyre, before interacting. Interact with the Courage window. A rematch with Joan plays out, and she ends it by granting her blessing of Courage.
Prudence
Before approaching the Prudence window, equip The Sage and its Mirror Walk spell. Activate the green Prudence window associated with Eleanor. Climb through the trial, dodging moving saws, falling rubble and spike-lined walls, until you reach the large bell above. Strike it to receive the virtue from Eleanor. The window is easiest to access once you have met Eleanor in the Mausoleum of the Queens in Holy Innocents’ Cemetery, where she gives you the Sage Arcana card.
Justice
Equip The Judge, with Chains of Justice, before using the Justice window. Consult the plaque positioned between the windows, then make your way up the bell tower through saw blades, hooded cultists, harpies and armoured swordsmen. Ring the bell at the summit; Saint Louis will speak and grant you Justice.
Temperance
For the Temperance window, first equip The Whisperer, whose spell is Freezing Path. Read the tablet by the blue window, which begins “Hear the bell of Temperance sound, it Whispers like a stream. A boat of patience between the bells”, then interact with the window. The Ferryman guards this water trial, with green hands, spike traps and grapple rings in your way. Strike the bell at the end and he says, “Be blessed, Belmont, with the virtue of Temperance!”
Once you have received the final blessing, the big rose window shines at full brightness, and Leon remarks on the curse.
Beat your shadow at the altar
Press Interact [R1] (PC: E) at the altar beneath the illuminated rose window. This transports you to a chapel, where a cloaked attacker named “???”—your own shadow—confronts you.
Defeating it earns the trophy “Shadow Work”, a new character skin, and the Arcana card The Self with the spell Absolution (“Hold the spell button to absorb the curse from all nearby enemies, purging their evil, dealing massive damage, and healing Rose for each enemy hit.”). A golden sphere left behind completes a “Work of Mercy”.
Return to the altar and interact with it once more. After a brief scene, Sypha’s spirit appears. Speak to her to learn that Rose has conquered the shadow she was born with.
Return to the Throne Room and fight Dracula again
Travel through the Sanctuary of Solitude gate in the Master’s Quarters, exit onto the Grand Staircase, then pass through the Throne Room Antechamber to reach the Throne Room.
Before the fight, equip Absolution from The Self and leave it equipped. Dracula now fights in two stages: first in the throne room, then in a winged form on the Castle Rooftops. Defeating both forms with Absolution equipped awards “Curse lifted”.
All three endings and how to get each one
Bad ending — “Belmont’s fall”
This one triggers when Rose uses the glowing clock on the Clock Tower Bridge without Soul Harvest equipped. Soul Harvest is the spell of The Shadow, the card Rose gets for beating Death in the Transept of Notre-Dame. The clock opens a false path into a throne room where Death’s trap catches Rose, the text reads “You fell into Death’s trap. The curse devoured your soul… and your very existence is lost to oblivion.”, and the credits roll. It is not a game over. Choose Resume on the title screen and play continues at the Mirror of Life in Mechanic’s Ascent with the Ferryman. On the usual route Rose reaches the clock before she has Soul Harvest, so most players see this ending on the way. With Soul Harvest equipped at the clock, the trap is disarmed and the way to Isaac opens.
Normal ending — “The hunt goes on”
Defeat Dracula. The fight begins in the Throne Room and ends with his winged second form on the Castle Rooftops. If Absolution is not the equipped spell when that second form falls, you get this ending: “Dracula is vanquished… but the curse he unleashed upon the world could not be stopped in time. Evil fades away, yet it lingers close at hand, lurking in the shadows.” Play then continues with your save, so you can still work toward the true ending afterward.
True ending — “Curse lifted”
Own The Self card, won by beating your shadow (“???”) after the four virtue trials, and have its spell Absolution equipped when Dracula’s second form falls on the Castle Rooftops. The ending reads “Darkness may yet return… but thanks to you humanity can look beyond, toward a new dawn.”
The achievement “Die monster! You don’t belong in this world!” pops when Dracula’s second form falls, in both the normal and the true ending. You can take the normal ending first and still reach the true ending later on the same save.
True ending checklist
- Get the four virtue Arcana: The Warrior (beat Joan of Arc, spell Infernal Pyre), The Judge (balance the Scales of Justice in the Palace of Justice, spell Chains of Justice), The Whisperer (return the Ferryman’s Obol from Mammon’s Lair to the Ferryman, spell Freezing Path), and The Sage (free Eleanor from the chained mirror in the Main Hall’s Mirror Rooms by breaking the four seals at the Hall of Mirrors Entrance, follow her through the Hall of Mirrors maze to the Heart of the Maze, then meet her in the Mausoleum of the Queens, Holy Innocents’ Cemetery; spell Mirror Walk).
- In Notre-Dame’s Gallery of the Four Virtues, a window will open only if you have its corresponding Arcana equipped: use Chains of Justice for Justice, Freezing Path for Temperance, Mirror Walk for Prudence, and Infernal Pyre for Courage. Equip the appropriate card, activate the window, complete its trial, then ring the bell. The Courage trial is a rematch against Joan.
- After completing all four virtue trials, activate the altar below the rose window and defeat your shadow (“???”). This earns The Self and its Absolution spell.
- Before starting the final battle, equip Absolution from The Self and leave it equipped.
- Head to the Throne Room and defeat Dracula. His second form battles you on the Castle Rooftops; defeat it with Absolution equipped to lift the curse.
How the two endings differ
The first ending does not stop the curse. Its text says evil lingers, and play continues with your save intact. The second ending closes the game with a sunrise scene over Paris and an epilogue card that reads, “Darkness may yet return… but thanks to you, humanity can look beyond, toward a new dawn.” Seeing that card and the “Curse lifted” trophy confirms you reached it.
