Player’s Guide to Raising a BUG Angel-Chapter 45 : The Dragon King is here!

Chapter 45: The Dragon King is here!
When Ignis’s tremulous whisper echoed across the silent wasteland, Mophis knew she had won her bet.
She stared at the mother dragon opposite her; her eyes reddened, her face dazed, as if she had been struck by some immense stab of memory, and Mophis breathed out a long, relieved sigh.
Finally… she had faked it through.
After finishing those three syllables, her mental energy was completely exhausted. Her whole head felt hollowed out, buzzing, and patches of black swam before her eyes.
She felt as if at any moment she might collapse off the lectern.
But she had to hold on.
Now was the time to announce the fruits of victory — she could not fail at this crucial moment.
Mophis forced herself up from the cushion.
Her thin figure, under the soft moonlight, looked somewhat precarious. With her pale face and an especially cold look in her eyes from the drained mental power, a breathtaking, seemingly shatter-ready “battle-scarred beauty” was displayed to the fullest.
The players’ hearts clenched instantly.
“Wife! Wife looks like she’s about to pass out!”
“Is it because her mental energy was used up? That scene just now was like gods fighting — the drain had to be enormous!”
“Quick! Priests! Get [Mass Heal] and [Mental Soothing] ready! As soon as the wager ends, patch up the wife!”
“Wuwuwu, the wife sacrificed so much to protect us, I’m gonna cry to death!”
“Mama!”
Mophis did not know what image the players were now projecting onto her.
She simply looked at Ignis across from her and used her last thread of strength to speak slowly. Her voice was quiet but loud enough for everyone to hear.
“Dragon King Ignis.”
“Now, do you still think the ‘meal’ you spoke of is more valuable than my ‘display’ just now?”
Her voice carried a faint wavering from weakness, but under the effect of 【女神的悲悯】, that wavering turned into a divine inquiry, as if coming from the clouds.
Ignis was snapped out of her daze by that call.
She raised her head and looked at the girl whose face was pale yet still standing straight. In those gold eyes dimmed with tears, a highly complex emotion flickered.
There was shock, there was awe, there was confusion, but more than anything… there was an unprecedented longing.
She had lost.
Defeated in spirit and conviction.
Not to mention the mere “knowledge energy” of a library — even if one added together the wealth of every kingdom in the world, it could not compare to the “miracle” that had just occurred.
It was an incomparable “treasure” that could not be measured by value.
By dragonkind’s ancestral temperament, once defeated one should leave immediately and never return here.
But…
Could she really leave?
Could she just watch this “miracle” that had touched her soul disappear from before her eyes?
No!
Impossible!
Ignis’s greedy nature surged forward again.
But this time, her greed was no longer about destruction and plunder.
It was a more domineering, more persistent… desire to protect and possess!
All right, human — didn’t you say that if I lost, I must become the guardian of this broken library?
What’s the point of guarding a broken building?
The “people” inside the building were the true treasures!
She would stay!
She would guard this “miracle”!
She wanted to watch with her own eyes what other soul-stirring “songs” it could create!
A mad thought, one even she found incredible, formed in her mind.
She looked at Mophis and slowly smiled.
That smile was no longer cruel or teasing; it carried the aura of a queen and a hint of… roguishness.
“Your ‘display’ was indeed splendid.”
Ignis spoke slowly, her voice regaining its former sonority and majesty.
“So splendid… that I feel it would be a waste to keep such a ‘treasure’ like you inside this dilapidated metal shell.”
Mophis’s heart dropped hard.
Not good!
This one was going to go back on her word!
What was she planning? Was she going to forcibly carry her away?
“So, I’ve decided.”
Ignis crossed her arms; the grandeur of her chest sent ripples of awe. She lifted her chin and announced in an unquestionable, queenly tone:
“I, Golden Dragon King Ignis, from this day forth, will personally ‘guard’ this ‘treasure’ of yours.”
“Until I have thoroughly ‘evaluated’ your full worth, I will go nowhere.”
“That means…”
A sly curve drew at her lips.
“I will live here, and be with you always.”
Boom—!
Those words struck like a thunderclap from the ninth heaven, detonating in Mophis’s mind and in the ears of every player!
Mophis froze.
Live… live here?
And be with her always?
This mother dragon… she was going to mooch a place in the house?
What was this supposed to mean?
So telling her to be guardian was actually just a nicer excuse — she had actually intended to ship Mophis away!
How could a massive dragon actually live in a library?
Instead of getting rid of the pest, she had turned from a passing marauder into a permanent tenant?
And a tenant who could crush her with raw strength at any moment, who might flip and disown her, and who harbored intentions to “collect” her — a super dangerous houseguest?
What the hell… what kind of victory was this?
It was clearly leaping from one firepit into an even larger one!
Mophis felt the world go black before her eyes; her body swayed and she nearly passed out on the spot.
After a second of stupefaction, the players erupted into a cheer more frantic and earth-shattering than any before.
“Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit!”
“The Dragon King… she’s going to stay!”
“Mama!”
“She’s going to guard the wife! She will personally guard the wife! What kind of divine plot twist is this!”
“I get it! I totally get it! The wife’s wager was never to drive the Dragon King away! Her goal from the start was to make the Dragon King stay! To turn her from an enemy into one of our… own!”
LaceSupremacy blushed with excitement and pounded the public channel with frantic typing.
“See! This is the wife’s wisdom! This is the ultimate victory for our LSP!”
“We not only kept our home, we won the wife the most powerful ‘guardian’! A world-class BOSS who willingly stayed to guard our wife!”
“From today on! Our [Mophis Wife Knights] will welcome a new honorary vice-leader — Golden Dragon King Ignis!”
“Brothers! Everyone present! Give our new vice-leader the warmest welcome!”
For a moment, the entire player camp shifted tone.
The prior hostile atmosphere vanished without a trace.
In its place came a festive, almost New-Year-like bustle.
Countless players set off magical fireworks, bards played joyous tunes, and some even began to dance the Qinghai Shake on the spot.
The whole scene had transformed from a “sacred recital” into a… massive welcome party for the new member.
Ignis watched the swarm of suddenly jubilant “insects” and fell into deep confusion once more.
Had these creatures lost their minds?
She had come to seize something, so why did it now look like she was the one joining them?
Still, she couldn’t be bothered with the peasants’ thoughts.
Her gaze remained fixed on that “treasure” whose face had gone from pale to green to black, whose body tottered as if it might faint from rage at any moment.
A triumphant, possessive smile tugged at her mouth.
Whether Mophis liked it or not.
From today on, you would be mine, Ignis declared to herself.
Mophis watched Ignis’s domineering eyes and listened to the players’ deafening cheers; her temples throbbed.