Kiana and the Captain's Bizarre Adventure

A few days later, Kiana was invited to the Kamisato family's stronghold in Inazuma Castle—the Wooden Leak Tea House.

It is said that this stronghold was personally awarded to the Kamisato family by General Raiden. No one can enter without an invitation from the Kamisato family, so you can talk about what you are going to talk about in peace inside.

"Huh? Isn't this Kiana? What brings you here?"

As soon as Kiana entered, she heard Paimon's distinctive voice. Since Paimon was here, Sora must be here too. Kiana looked around and soon spotted Sora talking to Thomas.

Thomas noticed Kiana had arrived and went up to greet her: "Hi Kiana, you're here too. But where are the other two?"

"They have some things to do and will come over later. By the way, what are they planning to do by inviting us over this time? And why do they want us to buy some ingredients on our way here?"

"It's nothing, just a welcome party to celebrate Sora joining our team. Miss specially asked me to prepare it. I came up with a special idea for it: a dark hot pot party!"

Kiana's face stiffened upon hearing this. The Dark Hot Pot Party? Could it be the one she was thinking of?

"Just to be on the safe side, I'd like to ask if this 'dark hot pot' is the same 'dark hot pot' I'm thinking of?"

"Huh? Kiana actually knows the rules? I thought I was the first person to invent this hot pot."

Paimon was completely confused by what Thomas and Kiana were saying. She covered her head and asked in bewilderment, "What are you talking about? I don't understand a word of what you're saying."

Kiana, seeing that there was probably no way to avoid this situation, began to explain the rules of the Dark Hot Pot to Paimon.

"This so-called 'dark hot pot' involves everyone putting all the ingredients they bring into a hot pot in complete darkness. Once the ingredients are fully cooked, everyone takes turns picking up food from the pot and trying to guess what they've eaten by tasting it. If someone guesses correctly, the person who provided the ingredients must stand up and tell the other person within a set time. The person who guesses correctly gets another bite as a reward until they guess wrong. The person who guesses wrong can no longer eat and the opportunity is given to the next person until there is no more food left in the hot pot."

"That sounds pretty good," Paimon said excitedly, rubbing his hands together. "Kiana, why do you look a little unhappy?"

Kong explained, "Because all the food we brought has to be put into the hot pot."

"So... that means!" Paimon instantly understood Sora's words, "Because no one knew at first that it was going to be a Dark Hot Pot Party, not all the ingredients or food we bought were suitable for putting in the hot pot, so wouldn't it be...!"

“Haha, that’s the charm of the Dark Hot Pot,” Thomas laughed. “And it’s said that the winner will receive the blessing of the Hot Pot God.”

"And who is the god of hot pot?"

Just as everyone was talking at the door, Ayaka Kamisato came in from outside, followed by Bronya and Fu Hua.

With everyone present, Thomas, after explaining the so-called God of Hot Pot, officially announced the start of the Dark Hot Pot game.

Although it wasn't night yet, Thomas still brought out black strips of cloth as a substitute.

So, after round after round, Thomas, who had proposed the game, finally emerged victorious. However, Thomas paid a heavy price; he was now lying on the ground groaning, clutching his stomach.

"Seriously, even if you really want to win, there's no need to ruin your stomach!"

While anxiously caring for Thomas, Ayaka Kamisato scolded him for not taking care of his own body.

"Because I wanted to win the game and get the blessing of the God of Hot Pot. After all, I have a feeling that something unlucky is going to happen to me recently, so I wanted to use the blessing of the God of Hot Pot to change my luck. It seems like I went a bit too far."

And so the day passed in a somewhat regretful manner, and some things could only be discussed the next day.

The next day, Kiana and the others arrived at the Wooden Leak Tea Room as promised, but the Wooden Leak Tea Room was unusually quiet today.

"Strange? Why is it so quiet today? It's completely different from usual."

Paimon looked at the empty wooden tea room and asked a question. Then, Taromaru, who was sitting on the table at the door, called out to everyone.

"Could it be another one of these charades?" Paimon asked, looking around. "Thoma—Thoma—"

The only response to Paimon was Taromaru's roar.

"Hey—stop hiding, I can see you now—"

Unfortunately, no one responded to Paimon.

"Huh? No one's responding at all. Where did Thomas go?"

"Woof woof woof! Woof!"

"Huh? Taro-maru, who's usually so well-behaved, seems unusually agitated today..."

Just then, Ayaka Kamisato rushed over: "Gentlemen, have you seen Thomas?"

"We thought he was with you. Did something happen?"

Upon hearing this, Ayaka Kamisato immediately showed a worried expression.

"Oh no... On my way here, I heard that Thomas had been captured by the Heavenly Territory Envoy. I couldn't tell if the news was true or false, so I rushed over to confirm. If Thomas didn't show up here as agreed, it means the rumors are probably true. General Raiden will hold the eye-guarding ceremony for the hundredth Eye of God in front of the Thousand-Handed Hundred-Eyed God Statue. And the holder of that hundredth Eye of God... who is about to be publicly hunted, is probably... Thomas."

"Could it be that the ceremony that the Heavenly Territory Envoy was preparing, which Thomas had heard about before, was actually the Eye Hunting Ceremony prepared for him?"

"Yes... the general and the people in charge of the Heavenly Territory are preparing to use the Eye Hunting Ceremony of the 100th Eye of God to prove the progress of the Eye Hunting Order... No, I have to go save him!"

“Miss Ayaka Kamisato, please calm down,” Kiana stepped forward to comfort her. “As the White Heron Princess, you also represent the magistrate. If you go there in person, wouldn’t that mean the magistrate is going to be an enemy of General Raiden? If you openly defy General Raiden, the ordinary people in the magistrate’s office will also be implicated.”

Taromaru also expressed his approval. Hearing Kiana's words, Ayaka Kamisato calmed down a bit, but it was impossible for her to give up Thomas.

“There’s nothing I can do… Time is running out, the ceremony is about to begin, and I can’t just give up on Thomas. He’s my friend, and just a short while ago, we were all together…”

“He’s also our friend, so leave this to us,” Kong said.

"But…"

"You just said, didn't you? Time is running out."

"...Yes, I will...wait for you to come back safely."

"Don't worry, Ayaka, when it comes to our friend's life, we will absolutely not fail!"

Paimon patted his chest and assured Ayaka Kamisato that when everyone arrived at the scene, it was already surrounded by people. Sora pushed his way through the crowd to the front and was shocked to find Thomas kneeling on the ground with his hands bound.

Thunder rumbled in the dark sky, and the purple-haired woman with braided pigtails standing before the statue of the Thousand-Armed, Hundred-Eyed God was none other than the god who ruled Inazuma—General Raiden.

Seeing that the time was right, General Thunder turned and stretched out his hand towards Thomas. Then, with a grab in the air, the Eye of God at Thomas's waist seemed to be drawn by some force and flew towards General Thunder's hand.

In a moment of urgency, Kong hurriedly used his lightning elemental power to leap over the guards and grab the Eye of God flying in mid-air. He then landed and protected Thomas's Eye of God in front of his chest.

The guards behind him reacted and rushed towards Kong with their spears, but were repelled by the lightning elemental power that Kong casually released. In a flash, Kong arrived in front of Thomas and wanted to help him untie his bonds.

But the next second, a tiny bolt of lightning struck Kong's hand. Kong looked up and saw the Thunder General slowly walking down from the high platform, his feet treading on the void.

"You can use elemental power without the Eye of God... you are an exception, and exceptions are eternal enemies."

The Thunder General, who had come to the ground, clasped his hands together and drew a ring of lightning behind him. Then, a strong lightning elemental power erupted from the Thunder General. Kong immediately summoned his bladeless sword and looked warily at the Thunder General who was being lifted into the air by the lightning elemental power.

Then General Thunder slowly pulled a knife from his chest, saying, "I will carve you into a statue."

Raiden General declared this, holding aloft the sword he had pulled from his own chest.