Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse has a ton for players to do, but one of Rose’s main quests is to figure out the mysteries of her Tarot cards, which are all tied to specific bosses that grant her abilities.
The Brittle King is one such Tarot card, and it’s one of the more mysterious ones in the game, since you won’t be able to do anything about it until well into your adventure. Let’s get into it.
How To Find The Brittle King
While most of the other Tarot cards have hints to help you complete them, you’ll basically have to run into The Brittle King on your own, which can only be done once you’ve unlocked Notre Dame through completing The Builder, The Occultist, and The Artist. Once in Notre Dame, head to the Chapel room, which is found on the right side of the map, close to the East Gallery Mirror of Life.
Once you get to the chapel, you’ll see a glowing sword that’s stuck in some stone, which should be enough to hint that it’s Excalibur. Interacting with it will reveal a clue about needing a “feat of strength” to free it, and cause it to shine and budge slightly without moving. At first, you might think this is a strength or level check, but it’s actually something else entirely.
How To Complete The Brittle King
I’m a little embarrassed at how long this took me to figure out, but to free Excalibur from the stone and move the quest along, you’ll need to equip the Fist of Talos Arcana that you unlocked from defeating The Builder. You can’t get to Notre Dame without having it, so don’t worry about needing to go back and unlock it.
Confusingly, Belmont’s Curse also has a weapon called the Fists of Talos. Just make sure it’s the Fist of Talos Arcana you’ve equipped, and not the Cestus-like weapon.
With that Arcana equipped, interact with the sword one more time to see a cutscene where Arthur is introduced and quickly attacks Rose. At this point in the game, it’s a fairly easy boss battle, as Arthur is so massive that it’s easy to use a weapon like the Whip to hit him from afar and get bonus damage from the positioning. He shouldn’t give you too much trouble, but there’s a nearby Mirror of Life if you do end up losing, and you can always go upgrade your health, level up, or find some better Relics.
Once Arthur is defeated, you’ll complete The Brittle King and unlock the Stained Glass Shield Arcana, a unique magic ability that gives you a very handy shield that can negate pretty much all forms of damage. It’s a rare non-offensive move and a great addition to Rose’s arsenal, but not as impressive as the weapon you get.
As you’d hope, completing The Brittle King will add Excalibur to your inventory, the legendary great sword of Belmont’s Curse. It’s not only the most powerful weapon of its type in the game, but it can even send out projectiles when you charge up a heavy attack. It’s one of my favourites, and well worth the effort of completing this quest.
