With Pontiff Sulyvahn defeated, and the bonfire lit, Tirek took a few moments to stare at the section of the church that was missing, thanks to the powerful attack that he had thrown at their foe, and he had to smile as he stared at it while both Sarana and Martok gathered at the bonfire, because this was the type of power he was after, even though he wasn't sure he would be able to replicate that for some time. He realized what had happened during the battle with their foe was that he must have drawn out a bit of his true power for a brief moment, long enough for him for him to summon three of the same spell into the area around him and combine them into a single entity that was powerful enough to wipe out the incredible foe that they had been facing, one that could have beaten them if he hadn't done that. A higher amount of his true power would be required for him to do anything like this again, especially to this degree, meaning that he had to be grateful for what had happened and not look a gift horse in the mouth, in a manner of speaking, so he turned his focus to what Sarana and Martok were doing and walked over to where the bonfire was located, showing them that he knew it was time for them to leave the area, for a few minutes anyway. He also knew that neither of his companions really cared about why he had been standing there earlier, just staring at the destruction he had caused, otherwise they would have made a comment about what he had done and they would be talking about right now, to which they focused their minds on the bonfire and headed back to the shrine at long last.
It didn't take them long to return to the center of the shrine and walk away from the bonfire that they had teleported to, where both Sarana and Martok headed over to where Ludleth was sitting, no doubt to check out the items that could be made with the new soul they had recovered, before walking over to where the Fire Keeper was standing, though while they did that Tirek walked down into the area that Yuria was waiting in, because now that they had found Anri in Irithyll, and had talked to her, it was time to see if there was anything else that needed to be done.
"Our Lord and Liege, you have returned." Yuria said, reminding Tirek that she was one of the few individuals in this world that actually spoke before he and his companions opened their mouths to say anything to someone, though it was something he wasn't annoyed with, otherwise he would have criticized that part of her, and she made sure to do her little bowing motion before Tirek came to a stop in front of her, "How goes your travels?"
"We've conquered part of Irithyll, found Anri, and beat another powerful creature." Tirek replied, because that was the basics of what happened after he tamed the beast that had been guarding the bridge that lead into the city, something he didn't feel like repeating at the moment, to keep it his little secret for now, before he focused on why he had come to this area in the first place, "You were right, Anri has hollowed, to a degree, as she thought my companions were phantoms or didn't even exist in the first place. Tell me, is there anything else I need to be told before I rejoin Sarana and Martok, use the bonfire to head back to Irithyll, and then continue the search for Aldrich?"
"Yes, I have news from the one that is following Anri at the moment," Yuria answered, where it didn't take Tirek long to remember that Yuria had sent a pilgrim or something to guide Anri and Horace to Irithyll, who might have had a hand in making sure Horace disappeared before Anri was able to reach the city, but he remained silent as he waited for her to finish what she had to tell him, "Your spouse is ready and awaits you in the hidden Darkmoon chamber of Anor Londo, so you may greet them and become a true monarch."
Tirek grinned for a few seconds, as this was good to hear, because if what had happened in the past, where Yoel was able to draw out his true power and bring him to twenty-five percent of his true power, was repeated he could use this to restore even more of his lost power and reach even greater heights, to which he bid Yuria farewell for now and headed back to where the bonfire was located, where he found his companions waiting near it.
"Sarana, do you know where Anor Londo is located?" Tirek inquired, though the reason that he was asking her this sort of question was due to the fact that she had a knowledge of the land that they were traveling through, giving him an idea of where they were at any given moment, so she had to know where the area that Yuria had mentioned was located and give him an understanding of how long it would take for them to reach it.
"Yes, its right above Irithyll." Sarana replied, revealing that she did know the answer to the question and that she was more than willing to give it to him, even if she didn't care why she was asked the question in the first place, though what she had said caused Tirek to recall what they had seen when they first left the Catacombs of Carthus and stared at the area that the city was resting in.
"So that's the name of the odd city that's above Irithyll." Tirek commented, as it wasn't hard for him to remember that fact, about the city that was resting above Irithyll, and that meant that they were close to the area that Yuria had told him about, meaning Aldrich had to be somewhere in Anor Londo and that Anri would be on the way to their target, "We need to keep an eye out for a hidden chamber in that area, a Darkmoon chamber according to what Yuria just told me, as that is where Anri will be resting."
Sarana and Martok glanced at each other, seemingly a little surprised by the fact that they would be dealing with the female warrior again, even if Tirek couldn't see their expressions and was guessing at the moment, before they returned to the bonfire and focused on returning to the church they had fought Pontiff Sulyvahn had been located in, where it didn't take them long to return to their destination. Once they were back in the church, and found that the magic of the bonfires hadn't restored the wall that Tirek had destroyed, which caused the grin to remain on his face for a few moments, the three of them headed up the stairs that had been behind where their foe had been standing and exited the church, to which they discovered a large balcony of sort that rested in front of them and a path to their left that seemed to be the main path they needed to take. The first thing they found were two small crystal lizards resting in the area below them, to which Sarana jumped down there and stabbed the both of them before they could even run from where they had been resting, allowing her to slay them and claim the stones that her targets were carrying, which she pocked them and quickly returned to Tirek and Martok's sides as they headed up another set of stairs to reach the next area they would be heading through and fighting enemies in. When they reached the top of the stairs the group looked out at the courtyard that was in front of them and found that there were a few giants resting between them and the structure that seemed to connect to a walkway that would allow them to reach an even higher level, no doubt the correct path that would allow them to reach Anor Londo and Aldrich, though there were also a number of deacons standing on a side walkway that was connected to the side of the church, the left side to be exact, which also seemed to have an opening of sorts to their left.
Based on what Tirek was seeing at the moment it was going to be slightly dangerous to get over to the structure that was their main destination, especially since there was no telling if the seven or eight giants were sleeping or if they might get up at some point and attack whoever entered the area, though that was before he spotted two additional enemies right in front of the structure they would be heading towards, each wielding two identical weapons in their hands, to which he paused for a moment as he took in what was in front of them.
"This is going to be a pain if those giants come to life and attack us, the deacons fire at us, and those warriors come charging into the battle," Tirek commented, as that was what he could tell would happen if they allowed all three types of enemies to engage them, even if that might give him a chance to reawaken what he had used against the Pontiff earlier, before he glanced over to Sarana for a moment, who seemed to be looking at something, "What do you think?"
"The side path is the safest of the two, while the main one will be more difficult." Sarana stated, showing Tirek that he was right in his thoughts about what they were seeing at the moment, though at the same time Martok glared at the area in front of them and gripped his weapon, indicating that he was ready to engage their enemies and take some of them down, be it the deacons, the giants, or the other warriors, "It all depends on what you want to do, as either way we'll end up in the exact same building."
Tirek said nothing to that as Martok took a few steps forward and entered the courtyard, where they found that some of the giants had to actually be dead, otherwise the sound of his armor would have woken them up, though at the same time the deacons started throwing fireballs down into the area and targeted the warrior from where they were standing, but even as that happened, and Martok hit some of the fireballs away with his greatsword, Tirek paused as he felt the air shudder once more, a sign that he was getting used to feeling.
"Great, more Invaders." Tirek stated, where he could see that both of his companions zeroed in on the word that he had just used, informing them that Unkindled from some of the other worlds were trespassing on their world and that there were more enemies they needed to be aware of, in addition to what was already in front of them, before he came to a decision on the matter, "Very well, we'll head over to the side path, make our way up to where the deacons are stationed, and then cut and blast our way through them, before sticking to the shadows to see if our new friends show themselves, which will give us an opening to take any Invaders down without exposing ourselves."
As soon as Tirek said that he, Sarana, and Martok rushed over to the side area and found that there were two paths to pick from, one that was to their right and seemed to end in a dead end, while the one to their left seemed to lead to a new opening that was closer to the church, where the latter was the one that they picked and headed through the opening a few seconds later, where they found some stairs to take them to the next level. That set of stairs brought them to the area that the deacons were walking on, the walkway that they had seen from the lower level a few moments ago, though at the same time, just as they walked up the stairs, Tirek swung his arm and used his magic to deflect the incoming fireballs, as the deacons were trying to hit them and they were currently failing, and his actions allowed Sarana and Martok to rush up to where their foes were standing. The deflection spell was one of the rare few spells he was able to use in his current state, as in the ones that didn't come from this world, but at the very least that opened the way for both of his companions to get to where their targets were standing, as Sarana was able to rush up to and stab several of the deacons with her daggers, while at the same time Martok heaved his weapon into the air and cleaved his targets in half, though both of them were clearly making sure that none of the Invaders heard what they were up to. That was part of the reason why he stayed away from the spells at the moment, due to the sound that some of them made when they were cast, something that wouldn't be a problem if he had half of his full power, at the very least, and stuck to actually cutting down their foes with the blade that he was carrying.
While they did that Tirek also spotted a lone tower off to their left, one that seemed to serve as a way to backtrack to this area from another location that was further ahead of them, a shortcut, and that meant they needed to find the path that would take them to the area in question, but for now he turned his attention to killing the deacons and doing what his companions were doing at the moment. The next set of targets the group had to worry about were the two knights that were rather close to the stairs, which happened to be to their right at the moment, meaning that one wrong move would alert the pair to the fact that they were nearby and they would be stuck fighting them, not to mention the fact that it could tell the Invaders where they were. Of course, interestingly enough, Tirek did feel a few more shifts in the air, a couple that were nearly identical to the first one he had felt, meaning more Invaders, but two of them were different, rather he got the feeling that whoever he had felt enter their world was here to help repel the various Invaders and then, once all of the Invaders were taken care of, it would likely leave them to their own devices. Not a few minutes later he spotted a pair of blue phantoms off in the distance that seemed to be looking for someone or something, the Invaders no doubt, though when he pointed them out Sarana informed him that the pair were either members of the Blue Sentinels or members of the Darkmoon Knights, like the ones in the swamp, with the mixed colored, had been the Watchdogs, but the important part about this was that they were here to assist them in taking down the Invaders.
Tirek paused for a moment as he and his companions stood back, where they watched as a couple of red and purple beings, the Invaders, rushed out of the structure that they had been planning on entering and descended down into the central area that seemed to be where everyone wanted to fight, as the red knight and the red cleric clashed with the blue Abyss Watcher, since it was someone wearing the armor and carrying the weapon, with the purple knight in spiked armor rolled at his targets, all while summoning the pair of knights by the structure and some of the giants into a battle, turning the entire area into a battlefield.
"Strange that we went so long without being invaded by some of the other Unkindled, only to be invaded now," Tirek commented, because that was something that had been bothering him since the last time they had been bothered by the other Unkindled in such a manner, mostly because he had been waiting to get his hands on some of them and break them for their actions, but this was just fine since it allowed the three of them to conserve their power for something that might be in front of them, "but at least we have some allies that can fight and die in our defense, for as long as they're here anyway, since there's no telling how long they'll last against these foes."
"Well, we should get moving either way," Sarana replied, because while she had to agree that it was good that they had allies this time around, unlike the last time they were invaded by some of the other Unkindled, she did know that the odds were stacked in the favor of the Invaders since the blue and purple phantoms had to contend with the enemies that the red phantoms, so she wanted to move before their enemies came after them.
Tirek nodded his head for a moment and silently walked into the structure that the Invaders had come from, making sure not to draw attention to them in the process, before discovering that the inside of the structure was just a room that had a set of stairs, one that would take them to the upper level of the structure and let them continue along the way to the path that would allow them to reach Anor Londo. While they walked into the structure he checked the walls that were around them, mostly to see if there were any Illusionary Walls in this area, before discovering that one of the walls to the left of the opening disappeared, revealing a ladder that leaded down into the depths that were below where they were standing, to which he raised an eyebrow for a moment as he used it. What he discovered was that the ladder was much longer than what he originally thought it would be and eventually came to a stop when he discovered that there was some water down in the area below him, though it appeared that Sarana and Martok were waiting near the opening, to take down any Invaders that came into the room that was now above him, but the really interesting thing came when he got a bit lower and was allowed to see the rest of the area. The massive chamber he discovered seemed to be a water reserve of some kind, no doubt for the rest of Irithyll, even though he had no idea how they were supposed to get all of it up to the city in question, but what he was really interested in were the two beasts, just like the one from the bridge, so he grinned as he reached the bottom and walked out to greet the pair, who roared as they noticed him and started to rush over to where he was currently standing.
Just like the last time his intense gaze was more than enough to stop the beasts that were coming at him and force them to submit to him, just like the last one had done, though this time around he didn't see a path for the pair to take, which meant that they would be down here for some time until he figured out a way to move them back to the surface, but as he started to move he felt another Invader appear in this world and turned to face the ladder, where a knight just so happened to appear near... but, as the knight faced him, Tirek stepped back and let the beasts rush forward, tearing into the unfortunate Invader before he had a chance to defend himself.
"Good, it seems the other Unkindled fear your kind, so much to pause in fear when they see you." Tirek commented, speaking to the beasts for a moment, even if they might not understand him as they focused on the area that they were guarding right now, a place that seemed rather boring when he thought about it, before he shrugged for a moment and headed back to the ladder, knowing that he would come for the pair of beasts once he found a reliable way to free them from this area, since they were useful in clearing out the invading Unkindled.
A few moments later he climbed up the ladder and reached the chamber that Sarana and Martok had been guarding since he headed down into the large chamber he had found, where they glanced at him for a few seconds and he nodded, to which the three of them headed up the stairs that lead to the next level of the structure, leaving the Invaders to deal with the guardians that had come to assist him and his companions. Once they reached the top of the stairs they found that they could turn to the right and drop down onto a square walkway of some kind, one that was attached to one of the diagonal pillars they had seen in the past, though they had to be careful as they walked up to the side of the building that was in front of them, as there were a couple of silver knights that had large bows in their hands, meaning that they would be firing at the three of them as they moved forward. Fortunately there weren't any knights in the immediate area that they started walking in, though there was one on the next platform that they needed to pass through, which happened to be in sight of some of the other knights, so instead of stopping and dealing with that knight they passed right by him and headed up to the side of the building that held a walkway for them to use. From there the next silver knight switched his bow for a sword and shield before rushing them, where Martok parried the incoming blow with his greatsword and let Sarana use that opening to get behind their foe and stab it a few times, showing Tirek that they had the situation under control and that he could focus on something else. As such he turned and hurled a Forbidden Sun right down the path they had walked up to get to this point, blasting the silver knight that was behind them and, at the same time, caused it to fall over the edge of the area and descend into the abyss below them, before doing the same thing to the next one that was standing on another platform.
With those three taken down, as both of Tirek's targets fell off of the area that they were standing on, they continued forward and quickly found another silver knight standing in their way, where Sarana quietly approached their new foe and stabbed him in the back, allowing her to push the dead body over the edge so they could continue moving, while proving that both of his companions could hold their own in a fight, something that he was no longer questioning after everything he had seen since this quest started. From there they turned a corner and found yet another silver knight that was hiding in the shadows, with an arrow at the ready for some odd reason, to which the group rolled out of the way and avoided the attack to the best of their ability, which was when Martok rushed forward and brought his weapon down on his foe, which allowed Tirek and Sarana to check out the rest of the area as he did that, where they found two more enemies in the area that was below them. As Tirek suspected the two foes were silver knights, which seemed to be the major enemies in this part of the city, so while Martok dealt with the one that had been hiding in the shadows Sarana walked down to where the next one was standing, who happened to be in front of a passage that would allow them to move forward, and stabbed her target in the back, killing the knight in a matter of seconds. While that happened Tirek gathered his power and hurled another Forbidden Sun into the back of the silver knight that was standing a couple of steps in front of where Sarana was standing, knocking it off the walkway that it was standing on, though as that happened he discovered that the diagonal walkway happened to connect to the top of the tower that housed the shortcut they had seen earlier, something that Sarana walked over to and opened the door to, even if it took her a few moments to do all that.
Once all of those knights were taken out, and they made sure to wait for Martok to finish his foe, the group walked up to the passage that was leading them into the building and quickly came to a circular room of some kind, one that had an exit to their left, but it was what rested to their right that caused the group to pause, as there happened to be a large opening that almost looked like it had been a Illusionary Wall at one point in the past... and, at the bottom of the stairs that were behind where the wall had been, was a passage that lead to a hidden area, with one of the pilgrims standing near an opening like they were waiting for someone to arrive.
"Welcome, our gracious Lord. Your spouse awaits you in the next chamber, but please, take the Sword of Avowal before you meet her." the pilgrim said, speaking to Tirek for a moment, just like Yuria and Yoel had done in the past, which was followed by the lady, something he determined by the voice, pulling out a sword that had a straight blade and hand a ring around the handle, while it also possessed a dull green color, where he gripped the handle and pulled it over to him once she offered it to him, "May you be the truest Lord of Londor yet."
Tirek said nothing to that as he walked into the passage that was just beyond the opening that the pilgrim had been standing near, where he found that the area he discovered lead to a large chamber, though after some time he gestured to the body that was nearby and had both of his companions stand near it, allowing them to take the armor that was on it, before he stepped down into the chamber. It was in that moment that he found Anri laying in front of the massive raised platform that happened to be resting against the edge of the chamber, though her helm was resting next to her and there was a cloth resting over her face, mostly covering her up so he couldn't see her actual face, but as he approached the altar that she was on he made sure to have the Sword of Avowal at the ready as his actual staff and sword were returned to his pack for a moment. The blade was all he needed at the moment, as it seemed to suggest something in his mind as he walked up to where Anri was resting, though the one thing he truly got from the image was that more power would be his if he went through with what the pilgrims and Yuria had prepared them for, hence the reason that he came to a stop when he reached the altar that was his destination. A few seconds ticked by before he knelt on the altar, in front of where Anri was positioned, and followed the image he had been shown by raising the Sword of Avowal and gripping it with both of his hands, with the blade resting above her head for a couple of moments, though once he was ready he drove the blade down into her head, the forehead he guessed, and the blade sank into her head. A few more seconds ticked by before he felt some sort of power, in the form of a dark mist, crawl up the edge of the blade and enter his power, like he was in the process of absorbing whatever power Anri had for himself, to which he grinned for a moment as he was covered in the darkness, allowing it to settle with the rest of the power he had gathered so far.
It took a few moments for the dark energy to completely surround his body, though that was when the air around him shuddered as his power rose to new heights, almost like what happened when he took the power of the Abyss Watchers earlier, and it only took a few seconds for the shuddering to stop and the aura to break off of his body, revealing a more youthful and well-muscled body, more lean than what he was used to in his centaur form, but he now looked far younger than he previously did and now had the proper posture that he had been lacking.
"It would seem that I have reached the transformed version of my full powered state," Tirek commented, referring to the large menacing centaur form that should have smashed Twilight Sparkle and her friends into the ground some time ago, and he would have succeeded if it wasn't for the power they used against him, but even as he said that he let go of the Sword of Avowal and stood up so he could admire his youthful body once more, knowing that he would be able to hold his own against the enemies of this world without having to rely on his companions, before he held a hand out and, without the devices that were necessary to channel this world's magic, summoned a Forbidden Sun, "and it would seem that I have been restored to fifty percent of my true power, which is more than enough for me to cast aside the catalysts I have been using so far."
"So basically we have to find the remaining Lords of Cinder and you can get the rest of your power." Sarana spoke up, as she and Martok had been watching and the moment Tirek stopped what he was doing, along with making sure to put out the Forbidden Sun that he had summoned, was when they approached him, though once again it would be hard for him to tell what the pair were thinking thanks to their masks, "Though we are close to Aldrich now, we just need to find the way up to Anor Londo and figure out where he's hiding, which shouldn't be all that hard due to the fact that he's a giant slime that can be seen a mile away."
Tirek nodded his head for a moment as he made his way back to where his companions were standing, as it was time for them to check out the other opening and see if they could find what they were looking for, though as he did that they did return to where the pilgrim had been standing and found that she was dead, like her life had been tied to Anri's for some odd reason, but that didn't stop him from claiming the spell page that she left behind, a Chameleon spell to be exact, to which he added it to his tome. From there they returned to the chamber that was at the top of the stairs and, instead of heading for the opening in front of them, Tirek turned to the left and headed back to the area that all of the Unkindled had been fighting in earlier, as from the area that overlooked a good part of this section of the city he could find that they were still trying to kill each other, which was just fine since it meant they didn't have to worry about the Invaders at all. Once he was done checking out what the Invaders were doing he, Sarana, and Martok headed back to the other opening and found that it lead to a walkway that seemed to just end, which was the moment that he spotted a lever and Martok pulled it not a few seconds later, something that caused the tower in front of them to shift and spin, allowing Tirek to see that there were two walkways on the structure in question. It didn't take the tower long to move into position and give them a walkway to walk on, so they could cross over to the center of the tower and use the stairs to get to the top, to which the three of them did that and moved quickly, as the tower did make noise when it was in use and that might have alerted the Invaders to the area that they were in, if they were familiar with the area anyway, and it only took them a minute or two to climb up to where the main control mechanism was located.
As Martok pushed the control mechanism into another position, and the tower started to move, Tirek grinned as he glanced at the city that rested above Irithyll, as it was time for them to find Aldrich, slay the second Lord of Cinder, and then continue on their quest to find Yhorm the Giant, allowing the three of them to get closer to their real target and, even more importantly, his true terrifying power.