Season 2, Chapter 6: "The echo of the fallen knight"

  Darkness. Black rocks. A purple sky torn by eternal lightning. Valterion steps on the ground of Waru's planet.

  Waru: "You arrived earlier than I expected, black gentleman."

  Valterion: "I'm not here for courtesies."

  Waru: "I already noticed it. You didn't come to look for peace... you came to look for redemption. But tell me, do you want to be stronger, or just less weak?"

  Valterion is silent. The helmet reflects the storm.

  Waru (serious): "Juan has gone to train. The whole universe is on the move, and you... you are here. Why?"

  Valterion clenches his fists.

  Valterion: “Because I failed. Because when that other Juan attacked us, when the sky broke and my friends fell... I... did nothing. I died standing up. And every time they smile in front of me... it's as if they stuck a sword in my heart that I no longer have."

  Waru: "Hmpf." -he turns around and starts walking- "You want me to train you in the dark arts, huh? Very good. But I warn you, Valterion. Here you don't fight with swords. Here we fight with the truth.”

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  And that's how the punishment begins.

  ?

  SCENE: PSYCHOLOGICAL TORMENT

  Waru takes him to an illusory field. There, he locks him in a prison of memories. Everything is distorted. We see Juan, wounded. To Elizabeth screaming. To Scarlett trying to save lives. Charlotte losing control. To Lightning crying.

  And to Valterion... on his knees. Motionless. Useless.

  Waru (voice in the air):

  "Is this what you are? A statue with honor? A gentleman without a cause?

  Your sword didn't cut anything! Your shield didn't protect anyone!

  You're an empty soldier disguised as loyalty!”

  Valterion: "Shut up...!"

  Waru: "What if Juan doesn't need you? What if he never needed you?

  What if your ideals are just an excuse not to accept that you no longer know who you are?"

  Illusions intensify.

  Juan looks at him, disappointed.

  Juan (illusory): "I don't need gentlemen. I need gods.”

  Valterion: "IT'S NOT YOU!" - he shouts furiously.

  ?

  CLIMAX OF TORTURE

  Waru appears in front of him, with his purple eyes shining like embers.

  Waru: "WHAT ARE YOU, VALTERION? AN EMPTY HELMET?

  A BODY THAT FOLLOWS ORDERS?

  OR THE SWORD THAT THE RULER STILL DOESN'T KNOW HE NEEDS?"

  Valterion (gasping): "I... I..."

  Waru: "SAY IT!"

  Valterion (screaming, with a tremor in the soul):

  "I WANT TO BE HIS SWORD!

  THE SWORD THAT NEVER BREAKS!

  THE ONE WHO FIGHTS WHEN EVERYONE FALLS!

  I WANT TO BE THE RULER'S SWORD!"

  A burst of energy explodes from his chest.

  A purple aura like a storm rises. The golden lines of his armor are temporarily tinged with a dark violet. His sword begins to emit an ancestral roar.

  Waru (smiles): "There you are... now yes...

  Welcome to the darkness that protects the light."

  ?

  End of chapter.