Jack stood alone a little further away, totally confused.
He couldn't see anything and only heard the horrifying, long, painful cry of Cooper.
Although he was still angry at his uncle for being a total disappointment and heartless—to not even think about just how much he had suffered during the entire journey—and never even asked him if he was hungry, thirsty, or even stopping to give him a few moments of rest, he still didn't want anything to happen to Cooper.
Because if something happened to Cooper, then he would be lost and die within the forest, as he wasn't even sure which direction to take to return to town.
Jack knew that Cooper was fighting, as he had just heard him provoke Lyria and Livy into showing themselves.
Jack also knew he was useless, but he at least wanted to see the battle. Perhaps he could be of some help. Maybe he could convince Lyria and Livy to follow him back home, and he would protect them and give them all the happiness in the world. They only needed to listen to him, and he was sure both girls were smart enough to choose him.
Things had only proceeded this far because he never got the chance to convince or talk with Lyria and Livy. If only he had the chance to converse with them, then nothing would have happened, as he was sure they just wanted to leave the forest and return to their warm home.
Jack completely ignored the fact that even if Lyria and Livy had listened to him and decided to marry him, he still would have made them sign the Scrolls—otherwise, he wouldn't feel safe.
After taking a deep breath, Jack walked as quietly as possible toward where Cooper was. He didn't want to disturb Cooper's concentration or suddenly get attacked by Lyria or Livy.
He had to convey to them just how much he loved both of them and the happiness he would bring into their new lives—something they would never experience with that street-rat from the orphanage.
Jack soon caught Cooper's silhouette and relaxed.
He quickly walked toward Cooper while surveying his surroundings to avoid getting ambushed by Lyria or Livy.
As long as he was beside Cooper, he could proclaim his deep love clearly to both girls without worrying about an ambush.
Sadly, due to the dark environment, Jack never noticed the dagger sticking out of Cooper's lower back, nor did he see how Cooper's eyes were closed and bleeding.
Meanwhile, Cooper's head buzzed from the previous impact on his left eye. His eye bled like a river, and the pain from his stabbed kidney screamed at him to just die.
He was completely lost in despair and wasn't calm at all. He had forgotten Jack was there. His entire mind was focused on slashing Lyria and Livy as swiftly as possible to calm the hatred in his heart.
He hoped Lyria and Livy would grow impatient watching his poor condition and try to finish him quickly.
After provoking them, Cooper suddenly heard noises behind him.
He immediately knew someone had taken the bait!
Attacking from behind was the 'smartest' move for a sneak attack—he'd already done it twice in this forest.
So, when the noise was close enough, he turned and slashed horizontally with his Mana-imbued longsword.
This time, Cooper felt sure he'd sliced someone in half.
Just as he was about to mock and rejoice in sending at least one girl to hell, he heard his victim murmuring as their upper body slid from the lower half.
Cooper suddenly felt he was hearing something he didn't want to hear. His brain warned him it was better to remain ignorant, but he still heard it loud and clear.
It was an all-too-familiar voice—one filled with shock and disbelief. A voice he'd heard countless times— also the reason he was in this forest.
"U-uncle…"
It was his nephew, Jack Eldridge!
Cooper's heart and mind froze.
He stood rooted, staring blindly where he'd slashed.
Though he couldn't see, he somehow 'felt' what lay before him.
"Jack?" he uttered in disbelief.
When no response came, Cooper finally lost his mind.
"JACKKK!"
He howled louder than when he'd lost his eye.
Only now did Cooper recall leaving Jack behind before attacking Lyria's silhouette. Now he realized exactly who he'd sliced without hesitation.
His nephew. His brother's only son. The Eldridge family's sole heir—Jack!
Cooper wailed Jack's name again and again, praying he was wrong—that he'd slain one of the girls and Jack would answer.
But Jack never responded.
Cooper went insane, slashing wildly with his longsword, blood-tears streaming from his ruined eyes.
Lyria and Livy, who were hugging two different trees like koalas, were speechless watching the entire situation.
They had made detailed plans and taken precautions while ambushing Cooper, and in case it failed, they had also planned their escape.
Lyria knew the noble scion would be a headache for Cooper, and she also knew Cooper couldn't leave him alone in the forest, as that would let both wildlife and them hunt Jack down. The only option was to drag Jack along, making Cooper far slower to track them.
Lyria used that information to form a plan to drag their hide-and-seek game until 1 to 3 AM, and it worked wonderfully well.
As she had roughly calculated, Cooper appeared right on time—a little late, but it was before dawn, so it was fine.
Both Lyria and Livy's vision was not poor due to their extensive training, but it was still far below a Mana Wielder's.
Lyria made the plan to use their clothes as a distraction, exploiting Cooper's desperation to kill them swiftly. She knew Cooper would be desperate, and she also knew that if he found either of them, he wouldn't waste a single moment chatting in fear they would escape again. So, without a doubt, the moment Cooper spotted them, he would sneak-attack as fast as possible, without wasting time to observe his target properly.
Thus, Lyria decided to give Cooper this exact opportunity—to sneak-attack her, the one who took his eye.
Both Lyria and Livy stripped naked, leaving only their underwear, then coated themselves completely in mud.
The reason it was important was obvious: if they wore their clothes, it would be very noticeable within the forest, and similarly, it was also important to make themselves as dark as possible in the dark environment.
Ambushing a Warrior at close range was no joke, so neither hesitated to go all out.
After doing that, Livy used two very thin wooden sticks to control Lyria's clothes while lying on the ground like a snake or an alligator, perfectly blended with mud within the bushes.
Livy's vision was directed toward where they had come from—in other words, where both of them had left clues of their crossing.
Lyria, meanwhile, hid within dense leaves on a tree branch directly above her clothes.
Her vision wasn't far, but her responsibility was to keep observing like a hunter whenever there were any big changes in their surroundings.
Her vision was especially focused on Livy, who was constantly making small movements with her clothes. At the same time, she needed to keep an eye out on other sides in case Cooper attacked them from elsewhere. If that happened, their plan would have failed, and they would need to escape swiftly.
Livy only needed to focus in one direction and try to see if Cooper's silhouette appeared. Even if she couldn't notice him, she would keep making soft movements with Lyria's clothes.
Lyria was 90% certain that Cooper would come from the direction they had left clues. After all, he himself was not in great condition, and with a deadweight following him, he would be in much worse shape than they were. This was also the reason she had intentionally delayed beyond midnight—so Cooper would also be extremely worn out.
In short, Cooper wouldn't have the time to be creative with his hunt; he could only attack immediately the moment he spotted a possibility to take even one of them with a sneak attack.
All this required extreme patience, a calm and determined mind, and the ability to promptly respond to any situation.
Both Lyria and Livy may have lacked real-life experience, but they were veterans at becoming whatever the situation demands. After all, Bella Noll wasn't teaching them sports or one-way methods.
What Bella Noll was preparing Eric, Lyria, and Livy for was to be anything they wanted—or had to be in a given situation, not just sticking to one method or way.
The next action was for Lyria to attack. There was a small chance Cooper wouldn't look up while she attacked, as the distance was very close. So, in that situation, she just needed to shout out a war cry or just cry out—that would make Cooper look up. If that failed, all she could do was target his shoulder, as she doubted she would be able to penetrate his skull with a Mortal-tier dagger.
The plan wasn't foolproof, but no such plan would ever be, and any kind of mistake or unknown situation could pop up at any time. All Lyria and Livy had to do was adapt accordingly.
Ambushing a warrior while just being Mortals was full of foolishness in the first place, so they were well aware that even the slightest mistake could cost them their lives.
But Lyria was mostly certain that it would work out. They themselves weren't trained as fanciful fighters with set patterns. They were fighters who could improvise and impose any plan or action in any situation—no matter what popped up—as long as Cooper wasn't calm enough or started swinging his sword wildly. They would figure out a way to succeed or escape.
Lyria was certain that Cooper wasn't a cool-headed fighter nor an experienced one—he was purely a 'bull-type' fighter. Otherwise, they would have died in the first encounter and wouldn't have been able to take away one of his eyes so easily.
When Lyria attacked, Livy—who was at foot level—would also stab Cooper from behind with a round 360-degree swing; otherwise, her dagger might not even penetrate a warrior's thick skin and internal organs.
They had even planned where Livy would attack—it shouldn't be any bone location. To make the best of this, Livy had even applied insect repellent to her dagger.
The town's insect repellent was quite poisonous. It should be rubbed outside of clothes or on skin at most, but it would feel like burning and become extremely painful if it touched any open wound.
All their plans succeeded—strangely, they had oversucceeded, as Jack was cut in half by his own uncle—it was a very welcome sight.
The moment Lyria successfully ambushed and popped Cooper's remaining eye, it would be considered a complete success for their plans. After that, even if they ran away, Cooper would no longer be able to hunt them.
Livy also succeeded according to their plan, saving Lyria from getting attacked right after her ambush. So they could now ignore Cooper altogether and escape—but due to the strange situation, they decided to wait and watch.
Lyria and Livy were currently hiding by hugging two different trees, as it was a great way to camouflage. This would also provide them with the option to leap in any direction if necessary. This way of surviving and hiding was also taught to them by Bella Noll in the past.
Since the mission was a success and Cooper was also going wild, Livy and Lyria jumped straight up onto their trees and climbed all the way until they could see and meet each other on a branch.
Since it was a full-moon night, it was reasonably bright above the trees. The reason it was so dark below was the large number of trees around the area, covering the ground with their numerous branches and dense leaves.
After Lyria and Livy reunited, they glanced at each other and laughed softly.
Both were much more relaxed after their success, and while glancing at their almost-naked figures—covered with mud—they couldn't help but laugh at each other.
They turned to check on Cooper below, who was going wild and had already cut down a few trees a little away from them.
Neither knew what to feel, but they were oddly satisfied seeing Cooper screaming everywhere for them to show themselves.
Even if they did, a blind person couldn't really see them—could they?
Livy uttered with a cold look, "What should we do now? I don't want to leave him… alive."
Even Livy was furious at this uncle-nephew pair. Not to mention, she still hadn't forgotten the incident a few years back when Cooper nearly killed Eric. Just thinking of it made her blood boil with uncontrollable rage.
Lyria also had the same feeling. She thought a little and answered reluctantly, "Let's wait. We can't go closer to him until he's more tired—and out of Mana, at least. We'll still be out of options if he comes back to his senses."
She gritted her teeth in frustration—even if Cooper was blind and injured, he could still kill either of them if they got any closer.
Livy suddenly smiled, listening to the helpless tone in Lyria's voice. Then she showed her two fists to Lyria without saying anything.
Lyria was confused, but after seeing Livy's palms—filled with small pebbles and stones—her eyes lit up.
How had she not thought of this?!
Lyria grinned and nodded to Livy.
After taking one fistful of stones from Livy, Lyria jumped downward and headed toward another tree.
Nothing needed to be said—both understood their assignments.