Ⅲ
The heat in Little Lion's eyes brimmed with almost tangible greed and...
Guile.
That greed sprang from the truest desire in his heart.
He had waited far too long.
He wanted to uncover the secret of Count Bette's "immortality." Ever since his father had told him about it, the thought had taken root.
As a king, he ought to be immortal.
And as a king, he had prepared himself while waiting for his opportunity.
He did not mind letting Arthur serve as a stone tossed ahead to test the path, and he was ready to step in himself if necessary.
So-
From the moment he saw Count Bette, everything had been a probe leading up to this moment: the shock, disbelief, and fear he displayed, along with his endless succession of Mystic Arts.
Fortunately, his probing had yielded an answer.
"Time!
It was time all along!
Hahaha!"
Unable to contain himself, Little Lion laughed in delight, his laughter ringing out loud and free.
If "replenishing flesh and blood" was the crudest method, the lowest Little Lion could tolerate, then "time" was what he hoped for most-and what he would welcome most readily.
He had sought "time" countless times.
But he had gained nothing.
Although the Golden Lion Family had records of the "Time Dragon" and "Herke's Twenty-Seven Mystic Items: Time Sword," the Time Dragon had disappeared after an unknown war back in the Age of the Gods.
As for the "Time Sword," the foremost of Herke's Twenty-Seven Mystic Items?
That was the sword Herke carried at his side. To find it, he would first have to find that Master, then take it from him.
That was virtually impossible-even harder than finding the vanished Time Dragon.
After all, that Master's whereabouts had always been elusive.
His personality was even harder