After their victory in the clash with Jeong Jeong, despair settled not only over Devon and the other rebels, but Kahn and Azula's prestige among the Royal Guards reached its peak.
The strength they displayed during their last mission had already drawn attention.
But this ti, they had defeated a true firebending master and forced him to retreat in disgrace.
It was almost unbelievable.
The people of the Fire Nation revered strength by nature, and Azula and Kahn had displayed terrifying power at such a young age.
That alone earned the Royal Guards' sincere admiration.
More importantly, beyond raw strength, Azula's talent, cunning, bearing, and status were all exceptional.
When all those qualities gathered in one person, everyone understood that she was destined to accomplish extraordinary things in the future.
Faced with such an obvious rising fla, many of the soldiers began to waver inwardly.
Azula sensed the shift in atmosphere at once.
She took the initiative to treat her subordinates with rare respect, successfully winning the loyalty of an entire squad of Royal Guards to everyone's delight.
Every soldier among the Royal Guards was an elite firebender.
Obtaining the loyalty of such a unit was undoubtedly the greatest gain of this mission.
More importantly, the Royal Guards were permanently stationed within the palace, serving as the Fire Lord's personal protectors.
But if even his own guards turned against him, then Ozai would be standing naked on a blade's edge—especially while remaining completely unaware of that blade's existence.
As for Kahn, he finally understood the true value of his strength as a weapon against other firebenders.
Although their victory over Jeong Jeong had co from working together, he felt that even if he faced Jeong Jeong alone, he might not necessarily fall behind.
And during that battle, both he and Azula had kept lightningbending hidden as a trump card, never revealing their full strength.
He still didn't know exactly how powerful Ozai was.
But even if Ozai was strong, Kahn doubted he could be much stronger than an old master like Jeong Jeong.
On top of that, Ozai's lightningbending would actually beco a disadvantage against Kahn's lightning redirection.
Considering all of this, perhaps Kahn's strength had already surpassed Ozai's.
Of course, the pressure Ozai placed on him had never co purely from personal strength.
It ca from the authority, class, military, and system he represented.
In other words, it ca from the Fire Nation itself.
Even if Kahn was stronger than Ozai, that didn't an he could simply remove him.
If he did, they would face the backlash of an entire nation's power, and no one could withstand that.
To resolve this, they had to return to their original plan.
Find Ursa's whereabouts.
Uncover the truth behind Ozai's seizure of the throne.
Destroy his legitimacy.
When that ti ca, striking against Ozai would no longer be treason or rebellion.
It would beco the correction of a stolen throne, the defense of rightful rule, a just war.
Not only would they avoid condemnation, they might even win the support of the people.
Returning to the main matter.
Jeong Jeong's defeat seed to completely shatter Devon's last hope.
So when Azula interrogated him again a few days later, he spilled everything like floodwater before she even had the chance to use any thods.
He was desperately hoping for even the faintest chance to survive.
As it turned out, he had chosen the wrong side back then.
Although he eventually "realized" his mistake in ti and saved his life, he suffered harsh retaliation from Yudan afterward and lived miserably every day.
Seeing no chance of rising again under normal circumstances, he decided to gamble everything.
In secret, he continued cultivating his identity as an "Iroh supporter," hoping for so future change in the political winds.
Even if the future never changed, he could still expose those Iroh loyalists in exchange for wealth and spend his later years in comfort.
Either way, he believed he could win.
Fortunately for him, the change he had been waiting for truly arrived.
Not long ago, he accidentally learned of an organization called the Order of the White Lotus.
It was a vast secret organization resisting the Fire Nation's aggression from the shadows.
Its mbers were said to be spread across nations throughout the world, and Jeong Jeong, the forr Fire Nation admiral who had defected years ago, was now one of its elders.
After learning this, Devon was secretly shocked, but he also believed he had found a once-in-a-lifeti opportunity.
So he decisively rebelled, intending to rendezvous with Jeong Jeong and the others before joining the White Lotus to begin a new path for himself.
And then Azula and Kahn arrived.
"I must admit, you've given quite the surprise."
"It seems I misjudged you."
"You do have so ability after all."
It was rare for Azula to say such a thing.
She truly had not expected Devon to hand her such a valuable surprise.
Kahn was also astonished.
He had never expected Devon to gather information this extensive, much less co so close to success.
Jeong Jeong truly was a mber of the White Lotus.
And just like Iroh, he was one of its elders.
But when Kahn thought about the forr Fire Nation general and forr naval admiral secretly undermining their own nation from within, he suddenly felt it was almost impressive that the Fire Nation had managed to develop to its current state at all.
"Besides that, I know many other traitors who are still dissatisfied with Fire Lord Ozai!"
"As long as Your Highness gives another chance!"
Hearing Azula's words, Devon seed to glimpse a sliver of hope.
Ignoring the pain from his wounds, he pleaded bitterly, his posture humble, pathetic, and twisted.
Azula, however, only looked at him with disdain and gave a cold laugh.
"All I can say is that if you had any real foresight, you wouldn't have ended up like this."
"That's why I said you have so ability."
"But your stupidity is beyond question."
"Your Highness…?"
Azula's sudden shift filled him with panic and unease.
Her next words made him feel as though he had been thrown into the deepest ice of the South Pole.
"I never promised you anything."
"So why would you think I'd let you go just because you confessed honestly?"
"In fact, if you had said even one word less, you might have had a chance to live."
Azula shook her head, sighing as she sealed Devon's fate.
"What a pity."
"No, please…"
Boom—!
Devon's expression froze in his final plea and confusion.
Then he slowly collapsed to the ground, lifeless.
Even at the very end, he didn't understand what he had done to offend Azula.
He didn't know what he had said wrong.
He didn't know what mistake had made her so determined to kill him.
Azula lowered her hand, having used lightningbending to grant him a painless death in the end.
That was the greatest reward she was willing to give for the information he had provided.
An unexpected kind of rcy.
Seeing a life fade before his eyes for the first ti, Kahn felt a faint discomfort but said nothing more.
Given the information Devon possessed, even if Azula hadn't acted, he would not have allowed Devon to live.
There were just a few remaining issues to consider.
"Will killing him like this cause any problems?"
"What if Ozai asks?"
Kahn asked.
Azula chuckled.
"He's just an insignificant small fry."
"Compared to what we accomplished this ti, he's nothing."
"I imagine Father will be too pleased to care."
She shrugged and said,
"If he really asks, I'll just 'tell him the truth,' I suppose."
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