Rye staggered and fell, he crawled as he tried to get away from them.
An old man with a walking stick walked towards him.
"Help," he said like whispering wind from a distance.
The old man walked past him. Rye turned to look at him.
"Get out of our way old man," Kriss said but the old man did not react.
Kriss lunged at him but glitched a few steps back mid-air. She landed as a silk cloth dropped from above.
'Why are they not attacking?' Rye thought and resumed his crawl.
The old man turned and Kriss and Kross simultaneously pounced. The old man gently tapped his cane on the floor. Their head fell off and blood gushed out of their neck.
Rye heard the sound of the blood rain and turned around.
'He is more dangerous than the vampires,' Rye thought, and crawled as fast as he could. Before he could get anywhere he collapsed.
Rye opened his eyes to see the old man sitting in front of him. He quickly sat up.
"Calm down you are safe," the old man said.
"Who are you? What do you want?" Rye asked as he glanced around looking for his sword.
"I am Papale," the old man got up and picked up Rye's sword. It was leaning against the bed he was lying on.
The second question will be a little difficult to answer," the old man added as he handed Rye the sword.
Rye swung at him and the old man stopped the blade with his index finger. He collected the sword and leaned it back against the bed.
"There is still poison in you. Try again when you are a little healthier," the old man said and sat back down by his side.
"Where is your coin?" the old man asked after what felt like hours of awkward silence.
"Coin?" Rye frowned.
"The Snake Coin," Papale clarified.
'How does he know about the coin?' Rye thought.
"I lost it," he stammered.
Papale sighed, "You will have to find it. You will need it to fulfill your purpose."
"Purpose?"
"Yes, you have to defeat the bosses of the other dungeons."
The old man walked to a drawer and pulled out the middle one. He took out a scroll and rolled it open on the bed.
"There are seven dungeons, each ruled by a dargel. You were supposed to defeat the boss of every dungeon," Papale explained pointing on the map where the other dungeons are located.
"How do you know all this?"
"The forge remembers and I was once a forger," Papale explained.
"What are you going on about," Rye asked.
"Long ago before the dungeons came into existence. The was a war that went on forever. A war between the Light and Darkness. A war between Angels and Demons. Then a civil war emerged among the Angels. A fight between Dargels and White Angels," Papale said.
"Angles? The mythical race that guards the divine?"
Rye chuckled and Papale sighed.
"They existed and still do. What do you think the Dargels are? Dargels originally Dark Angels, you just killed one," Papale explained.
'Does that mean the gods are real?' Rye thought.
"The Angels were losing the war against demons. To unite the Dark and Light Angels a marriage was proposed to end the war between the two factions," Papale walked around.
"What does Angels have to do with me," Rye asked.
'I just have to keep him engaged. He decapitated two vampires with ease, I'm not taking my eyes off him,' Rye thought.
"They had to unite the people of significance for the marriage to work. Archangels from both sides decided to get married," Papale explained.
Rye dozed off as Papale went on. Papal covered him with a blanket.
"Rest for you have a long road ahead of you," Papale said and walked out.