CHAPTER 152: CHAPTER-152

He sighed and looked back at her again, only for his frown to deepen.

Her back.

It looked... thinner.

His gaze lingered there. He remembered how her clothes used to fit—snug, always clinging confidently to her form. Now, they hung loose, fabric bunching awkwardly where it didn’t before.

Something had changed.

And he didn’t like the look of it.

Sparrow’s eyes landed on the gun.

Kaya’s gun.

It rested a short distance away, mostly shrouded in shadow, but still visible enough for his beastman sight—though not as sharp as an owl’s, just enough to make out edges and forms in the dark.

Curiosity tugged at his fingertips before caution could stop him. He reached out, brushing against the cold metal, and then, in a whisper of motion, picked it up. It was heavier than he expected. Real. Serious.

As he shifted it in his grip, a tiny sound echoed through the silent room—

Clink.

It wasn’t loud. But in that stillness, it sliced through the dark like a dagger.

Kaya flinched.

She didn’t gasp. She didn’t open her eyes. But her body betrayed her. Her entire frame tensed. Her fingers curled so tightly into her palms that blood began to bead from her nails piercing her skin.

But she didn’t move.

She knew that sound.

Not the sound of the safety click.

Not the sound of the hammer pulling back.

Not even the cold finality of a gun being aimed.

No. That was the magazine slipping free, hitting the ground.

Her heartbeat began to roar in her ears, but her breathing remained steady—measured. She knew how to lie still even when her pulse screamed. She’d done it before. A dozen times. Maybe more.

She could move now. Disarm him. Elbow to the jaw. Knee to the ribs. Fast and final.

But she didn’t.

Not yet.

Because she didn’t know what this creature truly was.

And for the first time in a long while—Kaya felt it.

Fear.

What if he could shoot? What if he knew how to use it?

She’d be dead before she could even blink.

So she stayed still. Watching. Listening. Measuring him with her ears, with her instincts.

And then—

On the other side, Sparrow stared down at the broken weapon in his shaking hands.

Two pieces. Disconnected. Something had fallen. Something was off.

He squinted at the handle and saw it: a rectangular void where the magazine should’ve been.

His blood ran cold.

"Oh no," he mouthed silently. "Oh... no no no..."

He’d broken it.

The weapon she wore like it was part of her body. As precious as breath. Something she didn’t even let others touch. And now...

Now it lay broken at his feet like some shattered vow.

She would kill him.

Actually. Kill him.

Panic clawed at his chest. Desperation crackled across his skin.

Think. Think!

Sparrow closed his eyes, held the halves in trembling hands, and summoned it—his magic. Soft and unreliable. But better than nothing.

A faint, shimmering green light pulsed from his palms.

Across the room, Kaya saw it.

A flicker. A glow. Not enough to wake the others, but enough for her to register it.

Magic.

His magic.

And now, she knew—this was her only chance. She could move, but slowly. Naturally. Like someone half-awake. Her instincts shifted her body slightly to the side, still facing away, but just enough to give her a peek.

When Sparrow opened his eyes...

His breath caught in his throat.

Not one gun.

Two.

Two identical black pistols. Two identical magazines.

The spell hadn’t repaired the original—it had duplicated it.

There they were. Side by side. Perfectly cloned. Like a taunt.

His mouth went dry. His eyes wide. What had he done?

Meanwhile, Kaya—still as a lake before a storm—opened her eyes at last.

And saw it.

The gun.

Her gun.

And right beside it—another one.

Her pupils dilated. Her chest stilled.

Two magazines. Two weapons. One real. One forged by trembling magic hands.

What... did he do?

She didn’t sit up.

She didn’t scream.

She just stared.

Frozen.

But her eyes?

They were both beyond shocked.

Kaya’s fingers moved almost on their own as she reached for the second gun—the perfect twin. Her hands trembled faintly, her body still caught in the ripples of disbelief. With a measured breath, she slid the magazine into the gun.

Clack.

It locked in perfectly, with that satisfying sound only someone intimately familiar with a weapon could recognize.

Kaya stared.

Her eyes slowly scanned the surface—every curve, every line. And then, her gaze paused.

There it was.

That tiny, barely-there scratch on the side. A mark from her constant use. The one that had always irritated her but also made the gun unmistakably hers.

This gun had it too.

Exactly the same.

Her breath caught in her throat.

She ejected the magazine again, this time with more urgency. It dropped into her hand, and she quickly counted—

Seven bullets.

Exactly seven.

The same number in her original magazine.

Her fingers stilled. Her mind, however, raced.

She had never seen anything like this. Not just a copy—this was a carbon imprint. A reflection that went beyond the surface, replicating every minor detail, even down to the used rounds she had never replaced.

This... wasn’t magic from some amateur beastman or a flashy trick.

This was something else.

Looking at the feather lying near the gun, Kaya didn’t feel all that shocked.

Not really.

Deep down, a part of her had already known—this sparrow wasn’t normal.

Come on, how could it be?

No ordinary bird could act so... human. So annoyingly aware. The way it tilted its head, the way it reacted to conversations, its strange attachment to her things, its expressive eyes—Kaya had noticed it all.

She wasn’t a fool.

And it had been going on for a while now.

If it had been a vulture or even an eagle, she might’ve brushed it off. Birds like those were known for intelligence, pride, and sharp instincts. But a sparrow?

A sparrow, by nature, was timid. Calm. Skittish even. It avoided crowds. It hated noise. It didn’t belong in a chaotic, heretic place like this.

And yet—this one?

It nested among chaos like it belonged there.