Castlevania: Dracula X/Stage 4'

Pitfall
This is a "penalty stage". You get here if you fell into a pitfall near the end of stage 3.

Secrets

 * Roast: after the giant skeleton sub-boss, in the step at the end of the water passage with spiked ceiling (just before the boss).

Mini-Boss: Giant Skeleton
This legless, orange-red skeleton appears just before the boss. He takes roughly fifteen hits to kill, but you actually don't have to kill him in order to proceed.

He has three attacks, which he does in the same order every time: He will throw a bone at you, charge at you, and then he will jump over you. When he jumps over you, run for it! You won't even have to kill him if you're fast enough.

Boss: Ghost/Necromancer
For a boss that you're not even supposed to be fighting, Ghost is a very difficult opponent, and the hardest boss thus far.

During the first part of the fight, she will fly around, summoning skeletons and shooting fireballs. The fireballs are small and tricky to hit, and if they hit Richter, he will become "cursed". When Richter is cursed, he will turn green and move much slower. The effect wears off on its own after a few seconds. When Ghost is hit, she will fly to the left; when she is hit again, he will fly right. Repeat until her health bar is depleted.

The second part of the fight is much harder. Ghost now moves much more quickly without a set pattern, allowing her to ram into Richter quite easily. She will start off by launching a series of gravestones at Richter; simply dodge them or whip them. Furthermore, instead of the occasional skeleton that she summons herself, Ghost now has several zombies that come to her aid.

When Ghost dies, she will disintegrate. The pile of ashes left behind will explode, dealing damage to Richter unless he gets as far away as possible.