Meanwhile from the ground, the random dude and the boy has finally went back down the ladder, along with the others.
The guards suddenly instructed the other villagers including them.
"Hurry run away from that sky island! Its gonna collapse soon!"
"Hurry up! Hurry up! We don't have much time left!!"
Many people were running away frantically within many kilometers away from the sky island, majority of them were being carried by the horses prepared by the guards down at the barn which will soon get collapse.
Some are running away without anyone coming to pick them, but only if they were discovered by the guards riding a horses will they then soon get picked up.
While others are running away in a panic, the random dude is still clenching his member due to the incident that happened
"Curse the fucking heavens!!!" The random dude shouted angrily.
"I mean hey at least it wasn't that severe!"
The boy jested around while still parting the dude in the back.
While he was patting the dude in the back in a sliver attempt to console, his eyes was darted towards the direction of both certain mother and her kids still looking up at the sky island.
The horseman were already trying to persuaded them to ride in their horse.
But the mother said, "You can take my kids away from here, I'm still waiting for a certain someone to arrive.."
The horseman looked at the mother at one a final glance, and nodded and was about to drive away the horse but the kids suddenly shouted.
"Mama! I wanna stay with you and see Papa!!"
The kids kept on shouting at the back of the horsemen.
But the mother just smiled at them warmly and said "I'll be coming there with you! I just have to wait for your Papa to arrive alright? Be safe!"
And the horseman left and the kids looking at their mother with a doubt and worry with their eyes, but what can they do? They are still younguns who have to trust and rely on their parents.
Its their family, this thought reassured them "There's no way Papa will be in danger! He will be always coming back to us and tell us fun stories!"
And the corner of their eyes, the boy watched the scene unfold in his eyes and then asked the random dude who already felt slightly better after few minutes.
The random dude noticed the boy eyeing on them and said.
"That is the Chieftain's family isn't it?"
Chieftain? Who's the chieftain? The boy didn't know this just because he was still transmigrated here, all he can see is the thief and a hundred man chasing after that said thief, there is like hundreds of people one place, how could he know which one's the chieftain?
But looking at the mother it seems like that the chieftain hasn't arrived yet...
"I have a bad feeling, the chieftain hasn't arrived yet and its about 1 hour and a 45 minutes before this whole sky island collapses" The boy said.
"Yeah, I wonder what they are still doing up there? Could it be that what you said earlier was correct?" The random dude looked at the boy.
"Correct about what?"
"About the fact that the thief is stalling their time and wants to kill all of them just to gain something from their corpses?" The random dude asked.
The boy blinked his eyes, he did remember saying something like that, and casually nodded, "Yeah, but what can we do about it? If you wanna go up there and save them it's up to you, but just remember that you are wasting your time" he stated with cold honesty.
The random dude looked up at the sky island and furrowed his eyebrow, he also has been one of the friends of the chieftain and he also wouldn't feel good about the news about the chieftain dying. But at the same time, he already chose to escape and leave him and his fellow guards behind instead of warning them to not pursue the thief any longer.
The boy looked at him and as if he immediately knows what he is thinking, knowing the guilt within this dude's heart, and then patted him in the back, "It's fine bud, it won't be your fault if all of them up there died, better safe than sorry. Besides, even if you alternatively, if you continued to persuade them, chances are some of them won't still make up their minds..."
The random dude sighed with a heaviness his heart, "Yeah"
He then turned to the other location and said, "Let's get out of here and hopefully horsemen are still around to come pick us up!", even though he is just a mere guard, he already knows the suffering of the Chieftain and his family, and how they lost one of their eldest kid.
They already lost both of their eldest son, the mother can't bear to lose her husband as well! Another part of her family!
And then the both of them all made a run for it until a horseman found them and picked them both up to lead them to far away and safer place.
...
The chieftain are still a hour away from the ladder escape thingy, and they are sticking together this time, forming a circular defensive position while still running away from the thief.
The more eliter ones with tougher armour are on the outer circle, and the one with the least defenses are in the circular defensive position, and in the middle is the chieftain itself.
"Watch out for your surroundings! Even though there are blue leaves glowing everywhere! He might still find a way to sneak attack and break our defenses!!"
"That tricky bastard! Who knows what kind of asspull will he make next?!"
They were both in a hurry while at the same remaining vigilant.
But while they were running away looking out for their surroundings, the thief is silently watching them in the distance smiling at them wickedly, as if they are all dancing in the palm of his hands.
The decision of the chieftain to go to a more open area as an escape route to go towards the big ladders is the safer decision.
If they went towards in the likes of narrow or an area surrounded by the glowing trees, there is a chance for them to get surprised attack by the thief, additionally their defenses are more difficult to manage in that sort of environment.
However, just as they were like half an hour towards the ladder thingy before the sky island collapses, the thief appeared in front of them, his hood is still remained intact and his face is yet to be shown.
They can't quite decipher who this thief is, and all they know is that he is a boy, and judging from his voice, he is someone close to the likes of age of 18-20 years old and the fact that he sounded...familiar to the ears of all the guards and especially Chieftain!
Though it isn't particularly surprising, if there is a rise of young knights, there is also a rise of young criminals as well!
All of them stopped on their tracks.
"Goddammit what do you want this time you crazed fucking lunatic!?"
The thief silently laughed and then approached them carefully and said with a calm tone, "I'm here to make negotiations, what a pitiful sight this is.."
The chieftain then said to them in a mutter
"Let's swerve to the other side, he is just trying to stall our time again! If we keep listening to his words we'll regret it later!"
All of the guards then nodded and then agreed to ignore this thief, and then they attempted to swerve to the other side.
However the thief then showed something that they all made their jaw dropped
Its the goddamn Ancient Skyline Ball!!
"Are you sure you don't want this thing back? You still have 1 hour left before you can go back to the hidden altar and place this thing back!" The thief said in a playful tone
All of the guard don't know what to do, but the chieftain knows this is another fluke to set up a trap and stall time until the floating island.
The chieftain glared at him and told his guards "Move forward!"
Despite the adversities, the chieftain agreed to move forward! All the guards are shocked by this and at the same time, they all agreed it's a reasonable decision.
They then attempted to ignore the thief and swerve again, though the thief may attempt to distract them but their determination to live is much more stronger, their village is doomed to be destroyed.
They have been trying to run around and chase the thief for about nearly 4 hours already, yet this thief still hasn't given up yet and instead plays around with their determination.
They are about 30 minutes away from the big ladder! Why would they still risk getting the Ball back to its altar? They wouldn't gain anything if they'll stay at the floating island and play cat and mouse chase, the thief is clearly skilled at his doings.
However, just as they were already beginning to go back to their goal to get to the ladder, the thief just chuckled to this response.
"You really don't get it do you? You've already lost..."
Suddenly, the ground started shaking violently....
The guards and even the chieftain were shocked by this, and their heart began to sank.
"Wait, what is happening?!"
Before they knew it, the floating sky island, begins to collapse, they now saw a visible cracks in the ground, as if the world is going to split in half!
"Wait isn't it supposed to be 1 hour left before the floating sky island begins to collapse?!"
The chieftain looked back at the thief and he is gone from his spot, only to be left with...an Ancient Skyline Ball that was split in half?!
"Wait...what was his goal?! Isn't it supposed to be the Ancient Skyline Ball?"
Giving up a Ancient Skyline Ball, or to say the least, splitting it in half is a akin to giving up a millions and billions amount of money and burning it in a fire!
All of them suddenly began to panic and the screams reverberated through the winds again...
"Hurry up!! Hurry up!!"
"We don't have much time left!!"
"Fuck this! I don't wanna die with no use!!"
"Come on come on come on!! Don't block the way!!"
Waves panic echoed through the island, as they began to sprint in a desperate attempts towards the ladder.
Even the chieftain didn't tell them to do anything but just shouted the word, "RUN!" Repeatedly, their circular formation has now been broken down only for it to be replaced with abstract panic, and the flow of cold sweat are now present within their body.
But just when it couldn't get any worse...the ground is starting to slant down to the right side!!
"Holy fuck Holy shit!!!!!!"
Waves of screams and curses intensified by this sudden revelation! There's no doubt it, they are about to die!
There is still 25 minutes away from the ladder but this island has already slanted down, the glowing trees, the small village, the large mountain on the center of the island, it will come crumbling down to the ground, and who knows what kind of destruction will it make?
When finally their defenses are finally broken..
The thief, who is now currently floating above the sky, comes down to the island...
"Hurry up! Grab onto something while going towards the ladder! Were not going to die here unless we all calm our nerves!!"
The chieftain shouted, trying to calm everyone up, but even he knew it was too late, he also was about to die now.
But just when he is focusing on his fellow guards, he then suddenly felt a pain in his chest, and when he looked down..
He has been stabbed in the heart!
"I'll help you with the swift death, chieftain.." The thief chuckled...
And then suddenly made a laughter that echoes through the air! The guards who some of them are crying already, looked one last time at their backs.
And saw the scene, the thief flying, holding the corpse of their chieftain while laughing maniacally.
"CHIEFTAIN!!!!!"
And they saw who the thief is one last time...
It was the Chieftain's eldest son!
And before they know it, the floating island is now collapsing down to the ground, leading to their upcoming doom...