Transmigrated Into a Cannon Fodder Phoenix, Stuck With the Ice Dragon-Chapter 130: The Last Solution

Chapter 130: The Last Solution

Vivian hit the floor hard.

The sound echoed through the room, bone against the floor, breath knocked clean out of her lungs. Water splashed outward from nowhere, then vanished as if it had never existed.

"Vivian!" I dropped to my knees beside her without thinking.

She coughed violently, her body curling in on itself as she struggled to breathe. Blood stained the corner of her lips, her hands shaking as they pressed against the ground like she needed to feel something solid to believe she was really here.

"Elyndra!" Vivian shouted hoarsely. "Lords—shield them!"

Lucian moved instantly, stepping in front of me as frost flared around his arm. At the same time, Auren rushed toward Celeste, pulling her back with a sharp sweep of his wing.

My heart pounded.

"Where is she?" I whispered, panic crawling up my spine.

There was no body. No figure. No shadow standing on the floor but the air did shift.

A cold, crawling pressure brushed against my skin, like something unseen passing far too close. The lights flickered. The curtains stirred, though there was no wind.

"She needs a body," Vivian gasped, forcing herself upright with trembling arms. "Be careful... let me—" She tried to stand, then collapsed back to the floor with a sharp breath.

Then I saw a leg stepped out of the mirror. Then another. Water poured downward like a curtain being drawn aside.

"Relax," a familiar, irritated voice said. "She’s here."

Thalor emerged fully from the mirror, utterly unbothered, one hand gripping something beneath the flowing water.

Something human-shaped.1 Something is struggling.

The water wrapped tightly around Elyndra, forcing her into a visible form, her features blurred and distorted, as if they couldn’t decide what they were supposed to be.

She thrashed, screaming, her voice warped and doubled. "Let me go—!

"Stop moving," Thalor snapped, tightening his grip. "You’re splashing."

Lucian stepped forward instinctively, frost surging along his arm.

"You brought her back?" he demanded.

Thalor shot him a flat look. "I said I’d throw her out," he replied. "Didn’t you hear me just now?"

The water holding Elyndra churned, compressing her shape until she was forced to solidify further, like pressure shaping something that didn’t want to exist.

Vivian exhaled shakily. "That’s... the only way," she whispered. "She doesn’t have a body anymore. If she isn’t bound to something, she can’t be seen."

Her fingers dug into the floor. "Lord Thalor’s water is forcing her to take shape."

Elyndra’s eyes snapped toward me. Even blurred, even trapped, I felt it.

"You," Elyndra hissed, her voice slicing through the room. "You’re still breathing."

Thalor glanced down at her, clearly irritated. "Obviously," he said flatly. "She’s alive and breathing just fine."

He tapped Elyndra’s mouth lightly with two fingers. "Now shut it," he added. "I already hate you. Don’t make it worse with your voice."

The water tightened around her.

Elyndra’s words died in her throat and the room finally went quiet.

Lucian stepped forward. "Give her to me," he said coldly.

Thalor lifted an eyebrow, clearly unimpressed.

"You do realize my water stays around her because I am holding her, right?" he said. "The moment I let go, she dissolves."

Lucian didn’t hesitate, "Then kill her."

The room went still. Even the water seemed to pause.

Seraphina’s breath caught. "Lucian—"

Elyndra’s eyes widened, fear finally cracking through her twisted expression.

Thalor stared at Lucian for a long moment, studying him like he was weighing something unpleasant.

"You dragons really are extreme," he muttered.

Lucian’s gaze didn’t waver. "She’s taken enough," he said quietly. "My wife. Other lives. If she disappears, I won’t lose sleep over it."

Thalor exhaled slowly, clearly unimpressed. "You already tried that once," he said flatly. "You crushed her body. Look how well that worked."

Lucian’s jaw tightened, probably recalling that time.

"She came back," Thalor continued. "Because killing her isn’t simple. She doesn’t end the way you want her to."

He glanced down at Elyndra, still struggling inside the water. "If I crush her now," Thalor said, "she won’t die. She’ll break apart. And broken things like her don’t stay gone."

Elyndra’s lips curled faintly, as if daring them.

Thalor clicked his tongue. "So, no..." he said. "Death is too clean for her. And scattering her would just make her someone else’s problem later."

Lucian frowned. "Then what?"

Thalor lifted his hand slightly. The water tightened, forcing Elyndra still. "We cut her off," he said. "Completely."

Vivian sucked in a breath. "You mean severing her anchors, my lord?"

Thalor nodded once. "No mirrors. No systems. No hosts," he said. "And most importantly, no connection to the phoenix."

My chest tightened.

"She survives by clinging," Thalor went on. "To people. To worlds. To you." His eyes flicked briefly in my direction. "Take that away, and she has nowhere to go."

Lucian’s voice was low, "And after that?"

Thalor’s expression hardened. "Containment," he said. "Not a prison she can scratch at. Not a place she can whisper from."

"A sealed space," Vivian whispered. "One that doesn’t answer her."

Thalor nodded again. "She’ll remain whole," he said. "Aware. And powerless."

Elyndra finally screamed. "No—!"

Thalor tightened his grip, annoyed. "Quiet," he snapped. "You’ve lost the right to negotiate."

Lucian looked at Elyndra then, his voice steady but cold. "This is mercy," he said. "Don’t mistake it for weakness." 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Elyndra’s eyes burned with hatred. And for the first time, she really looked afraid.

"Wait."

Lucian’s voice cut through the silence.

He stepped closer, staring down at her with something sharp and unforgiving in his gaze.

"What if we destroy her completely?" he asked. "Snap her head from her body... would that kill her?"

The water around Elyndra trembled faintly.

Lucian slowly turned his head toward Vivian.

"You’re a fairy too," he said coldly. "Tell us."

The room went quiet.

"How do we kill her?" he asked. "Because until she is truly dead, I don’t think I’ll ever sleep peacefully again."

Vivian swallowed hard. "That won’t work," she said softly.

Lucian’s eyes narrowed. "Why not?"

Vivian met his gaze, pain and honesty clear in her expression.

"Because she isn’t alive the way we are," she said, glancing at Elyndra, then back at Lucian.

"Her existence isn’t held together by flesh," Vivian continued. "It’s held together by what she’s attached to."

Lucian clenched his fist. "So there is no way?"

"There is," Vivian replied. "But it isn’t killing."

Everyone stilled.

"To end her completely," Vivian said, "you would need to erase every place she’s bound to. Every anchor. Every path she can return through."

She shook her head. "That kind of erasure doesn’t happen in one strike," she added. "It takes time. Preparation. And the cost."

Thalor clicked his tongue impatiently. "And that," he said flatly, "is why containment exists."

Lucian looked back at Elyndra, jaw tight. "So death is too easy for you," he murmured.

Elyndra laughed weakly, fear cracking through it. "Still dreaming of peace, dragon?" she hissed.

Lucian’s eyes hardened. "Then I’ll settle for silence," he said. "As long as you can never touch her again."

The water tightened.

And Elyndra started gasping.

since I don’t know what word to use here, I go with ’Human’ hee~