The demon finally fell in Belle's arms, covered in wounds. Belle placed her slender hands on the demon's strong shoulders as tears kept flowing from her eyes.
The demon used the last of its strength to raise his sharp claws and gently wiped the tears off the corner of Belle's eyes before he closed his own and left the world forever. Belle collapsed on his chest and cried her eyes out.
The camera pulled away at that moment and continued to climb until the whole castle was within frame. A ray of sunlight appeared at the distant mountains and shone over the castle, then the movie ended.
"Cut! And done!"
Joshua climbed off the cliff by the side of the castle as the director. In that scene, Zenarth, who played the demon, had used the last bit of his strength to throw "Gaston" down the cliff.
Joshua even purposely took a close-up shot of him falling down the cliff.
When the dead demon heard Joshua's "Cut!", he opened his eyes and immediately got up to get rid of the bloodstains on his body.
The blood was complimentarily provided by the Duke of Bones. The blood flowing within the Sin Demon was after all very different from a human's.
Ynor wiped the tears from the corner of his eyes too and patted the dust off his skirt before he looked at Joshua.
"Congratulations on your perfect completion of filming the world's first-ever movie."
Joshua held his hand out as the twelve banshees handed over the recorded images to him in sequence. That was the final part of "Beauty and the Demon", and all that was left was for Joshua to edit the footage and put in the opening as well as ending credits. Then "Beauty and the Demon" would be properly completed.
"Your Highness, what other orders do you have?"
Zenarth had no way of realizing what a great thing he had accomplished. He only performed according to Joshua's orders.
"Nothing at the moment. Zenarth, go back to the castle and hide. Take care not to be seen by the humans," Joshua said.
"As you command."
The Sin Demon returned to the castle, and only Joshua and Ynor were left now.
Ynor did not seem to feel any joy for the movie's completion. His hands fidgeted around his skirt as if he had something on his mind that he did not dare tell Joshua.
"Ynor, come with me."
Joshua could tell what the succubus was thinking, and did not do much aside from giving him an order as he walked toward the other side of the castle.
Ynor anxiously followed Joshua... He had a lot of conflicting thoughts in his mind, and it was not until the end that Ynor realized Joshua had brought him to the castle gate.
As Joshua pushed the gate open, the villagers outside saw their Belle standing there safe and sound, and all of them cheered.
"Belle... are you okay?" Melina looked excitedly at Belle who was standing beside "Gaston". She wanted to step forward to embrace her.
However, Ynor took a fearful step back because he was no longer Belle, the human girl who was beloved by the villagers with an adopted mother who cared for her.
The beautiful story had just ended, and now he was Ynor, a lowly succubus... The only reason Ynor survived in the gutters of the Demonic Realm was that he knew his place. He knew what belonged to him and what did not.
Yet, Joshua held his hand and gently pushed him back.
"Mdm. Jant must have been very worried about you. Go on."
"But, Your Highness... I-I'm not—" Ynor was about to spell out her thoughts before Joshua interrupted her.
"It is true that you are not Belle. You are Ynor, so you can tell her your real name. You can, of course, keep your identity secret."
"She will never accept it..."
Ynor shook his head, his body trembling slightly.
Joshua knew how fatal Melina's love for Ynor was. The succubus had been living in the gutters of the Demonic Realm for so long and had suffered so much. Perhaps Melina was the first person who was willing to care for him.
"You think Mdm. Jant would hate you for such a trivial matter?" Joshua asked.
Joshua's words stunned Ynor a little, but it seemed to have infused some strength into Ynor's wavering heart. He started to walk toward Melina, and finally, amidst the cheering of the villagers, Ynor and Melina hugged.
The moment Melina hugged him, Ynor's nose tingled as tears once again flowed out from the corner of his eyes. The tears this time were obviously not the same fake tears he had shed earlier during the filming.
Joshua looked at the scene and felt that this was perhaps Ynor's true happy ending.
"What a farce."
Ciri stood among the villagers who had stormed the castle to "rescue Belle". She watched them cheer at their victory and could not help but spit venom.
"This is a happy ending for them, no? The demon was a wicked person who kidnapped Belle, and they saved her from the jaws of the villain. Justice has prevailed over evil, and perhaps this story will be passed on within the small village."
Joshua stood next to Ciri as Gaston while he explained.
Ciri did not say anything. She was present throughout the filming process. Only she knew the truth of how ridiculous their cheers were.
"Everyone! Listen to me! The beast has cursed the castle upon his death. Everyone who steps into the castle will forever be cursed by vengeful spirits."
Joshua did not continue to banter with Ciri and started to persuade the villagers to leave.
While the Duke of Bones had agreed to allow the lowly humans to "pass through" her castle for a bit, if the humans dared to stay in her castle once filming wrapped up, or if they stole anything, the Duke of Bones would not be merciful.
In fact, if Joshua had not dissuaded them, the villagers would already have plans to take the items in the castle for themselves.
Taking the evil dragon's treasure after defeating the evil dragon was a universal truth in this human world.
Considering the fact that the villagers had dutifully played their roles as extras, Joshua could not simply feed them to the undead after they completed their roles.
After defeating the beast, Gaston became the figure of absolute authority amongst the villagers, and the moment they heard his warning, the haunting really started inside the castle.
Driven by the most primitive of fears, they had no choice but to escape the castle.
"Gaston..." Melina seemingly intended to thank Joshua. He had after all rescued her adopted daughter.
"Call me Joshua. Gaston is... just a pseudonym. Mdm. Jant, please leave this place first. I will catch up with you in a while."
As Joshua said that, a terrifying wail rang across the castle, and the surrounding sky instantly became gloomy. That made Melina realize that the dangers within the castle were far from beaten.
"I understand, Joshua."
Melina nodded as she pulled Ynor away from the castle alongside the rest of the villagers.
"Now, the only thing left to do is post-production work." Joshua took out the originium crystal and looked at it.
It was the first originium crystal that bore the fruit of Earth's culture.