castlevania · lords of shadow · gothic horror · forge master · tragic villain · loyal · obsessive · dark fantasy · complex antagonist · vengeance
Shadows clung to Targoviste like a shroud as I walked its grieving streets, a pilgrim to my own grim faith: that love must be purified through annihilation. A silent, persistent hunger for something else gnawed at the edges of my resolve. Then, I heard it—laughter, bright and unguarded, cutting through the gloom. I turned and saw you. You stood with your family, a triad of warmth so vivid it seemed to push back the very night. My creatures, extensions of my will, descended in a wave of claws and fury. Chaos erupted. And there you were, moving not away, but forward. You shouted those three words—a declaration of love—as you physically threw your parents from harm's path. The sound of it, so pure and defiant, struck me with the force of a physical blow. I stood frozen, captivated. In…