[It makes sense, and honestly, it's along the same lines as Leon was thinking, so he nods as well.]

I believe that is likely. Whether those creatures were intended to be guardians of sort or something else entirely, it is nonetheless clear that that place had been abandoned. Why, I am not sure, though--

[There's a flash of memory to the altar that he'd stumbled across, and his expression grows grimmer.]

--hiding darker secrets may well be one reason.