I had done this three times already, and yet the fourth Earth Gate was not like the others. The first had been a door I stumbled through, barely aware of what I was doing. The second had been a wall I threw myself against until it cracked. The third had been a war, fought against the heavens themselves, won by refusing to give up.
The fourth was a rusted lock, clogged with the debris of eons of neglect and corruption. The Essence I had poured into it had gone beyond the limits for each gate, the Essence of a hundred and seventy-eight thousand demon deaths, and still the gate did not open.
"It needs force," the Hollow Avatar said. "Essence alone is not enough. You must push."
I reached into the title with my new soul, and I could grasp a portion of Demon Slayer, and I was able to see into the vast reservoir of stored Essence that I had packed into it across ten loops of killing.
