A red dot appeared on the map!
This was the first time Sean had seen a red dot appear on his simulation map. Red meant a warning, right? Did it indicate hostility from the other party?
"What's a snow giant? You never mentioned these before!" Sean stared at the distant figures that looked like humans yet also resembled piled-up snow...
The surrounding white snow reflected light, making it hard to see clearly.
He took out the map and looked again. Besides the moving white dots representing nearby people, there were two slightly farther red dots that also seemed to be moving.
And they were moving this way!
"I didn't expect this either. Don't they live in the snowy mountains of the northwest?!! Why are they here?" Lucille's eyes widened.
As a witch, she had a broader field of vision than others, and her pet raven had been circling in the sky all along, silently accompanying her wherever she went, ready to alert its master at the first sign of trouble.
But now, even the raven hadn't sensed the enemy, yet the baron in front of her had already noticed.
The enemy seemed to be making a move...
"Kri!"
Lucille shouted the name of the archaeological team leader.
But not only the team members, even the others still working were drawn by the shout.
"Look over there, over there!" Lucille pointed behind everyone.
The snow giant had apparently planned to sneak up on them, but was caught off guard by being discovered early. It roared and quickened its pace...
Closer now, enough to see more clearly.
"What is that?"
"Never seen anything like it. Is it a person?" Many guards and townsfolk had never encountered such a creature.
Only the archaeological team members, who lived in the wild year-round, knew what it was!
"It's a snow giant! Everyone, scatter, scatter!" Kri's first instinct was to get everyone to spread out and not panic, becoming targets for the snow giant.
But accustomed to being mercenaries, they didn't know how to direct ordinary people. Even the guards Sean brought were just slightly younger, stronger townsfolk, mostly maintaining order under Danti's leadership.
They usually handled disputes, hunted, and so on—never fought something they'd never even seen before.
The snow giant's speed was like a hound running through the snow... The few people at the front had just let go of their sleds to flee when they were sent flying.
Screams of agony mixed with blood splattered everywhere, finally scaring the rest into running back.
Even the sled dogs panicked and scattered in all directions, disrupting the just-arranged bodies.
"Everyone, get behind me, head toward the houses!" Sean shouted to the guards, but as he took a step forward, Lucille grabbed him.
"Don't go! Don't let their size fool you—they're fast, and if you get close, you won't escape." As she spoke, she began chanting a spell.
It had been a while since Sean last saw Lucille use magic.
Above her head, besides the [Caution!] status, another thing appeared below.
When the [Slow~] text appeared, a progress bar followed behind it.
Like last time, it was probably the casting bar... He estimated it took about two seconds. When Lucille reached out toward the two snow giants, a dark mark appeared under their feet, and their speed began to slow.
"Kri!"
"Got it!" With a fierce roar, he swung his greatsword straight at the snow giant.
Though the archaeological team was hastily assembled, they were all seasoned fighters who had spent years in the wild, able to respond to any threat immediately—a stark contrast to Sean's guards.
By then, the retreating guards had gathered around Sean.
For them to make it back to him in such a life-or-death moment was already commendable...
Looking at the two-meter-tall snow giants, they resembled apes with blue-purple faces and horn-like protrusions on their heads.
[8000/9000] HP, with a [Rage!] status fixed above.
Their HP was higher than the archaeological team's!
But Kri had already taken down 1000 HP with one blow, so they were beatable.
Did beasts generally have higher HP?
Before this, Sean had only seen the HP of birds or livestock—neither high nor low—so he couldn't judge if beasts had more HP than humans. These snow giants were the first non-human monsters he'd encountered.
"Sir! Should we..."
The guard behind him started to speak, but Sean raised a hand to stop him.
"You don't have their combat experience. Leave these two monsters to them."
Even Danti would probably struggle to handle two snow giants at once. Kri's HP was three times his, and the rest of the archaeological team had around 6000 HP each, with rich combat experience.
"Little baron... Lord Viger, have your men retrieve the sleds and check on the wounded. Leave these snow giants to us." Lucille turned to Sean, addressing him as "lord" in front of others, mimicking Kri.
"You, go around and bring the wounded over... And you, find the sled dogs." Sean knew they couldn't help—rushing into the fight would only hinder Kri—so he gave them other tasks.
But come to think of it, why would monsters even his own people couldn't defeat appear here?
Had they never been noticed before?
Sean watched Lucille, who was casting again.
This time it was [Flame Blast~], with a longer cast time than before.
So she could use that kind of magic too...
About five seconds passed, and even Sean standing nearby could feel the air growing hotter.
"Kri, move!" She shouted to Kri and the warrior named Manus, who both leaped sideways instantly.
Thanks to Lucille's slow spell, the snow giants couldn't keep up with their speed.
Two warriors and a witch—what about the other two?
Sean looked at the others...
The man named Guda was holding something like a grenade, its lid open, while the girl used a special clamp tool.
As Lucille thrust out a torrent of blazing flame, the man and woman threw their items.
"Try this... super bomb!"
Boom!
A loud explosion in the center.
Holy crap~
What kind of geniuses were these?