"Are you ready?" 

Ram stood on the fringe of the rings as she looked at me and her twin sister. Once we nodded, she lowered her hand. 

"Then fight."

 

The moment the start was given, a surge of mana immediately emanated from Rem as a short pink horn seemingly made out of energy appeared on her head. 

This was the battle mode of the people from the oni clan. They could only show their full power when using their horns. 

Frankly, even though I couldn't calculate Rem stats when under that transformation, she was undoubtedly way stronger than me. 

But… 

Stats alone could never decide the outcome of a fight. 

<<Melancholia: Gravity lowered 3x>>

One of the abilities of my power of Melancholia was gravity manipulation. As of now, I still had a hard time affecting a large zone, but it wasn't a problem to simply change my own gravity. 

Using my now lowered weight, I easily avoided the flurry of kicks Rem was sending my way. I could even allow myself to see the flash of panties she kept giving me. 

"White."

The furious blush on her face told me she understood very well what I meant. After all, it wasn't the first time I did something like this. 

"Perverts. Should. Die!" 

She jumped before doing a flip and descending with a drop kick. I knew very well how much destruction she could bring, but I wasn't scared. 

<<Melancholia: Gravity lowered 6x.>>

I didn't even have to do much and simply caught her kick that had basically lost all power. By lowering the gravity by 6 times, I basically rendered the weight behind her kick close to zero. 

Gripping her leg, I raised her easily since she had basically no weight and then threw her toward the opposite wall. 

Of course, not before leaving her a gift. 

<<Melancholia: Gravity increases 6x times>>

Just a few milliseconds before the moment she left my hand, I suddenly increased her overall weight. 

She had no time to respond as she was sent like a cannonball toward the wall. 

BOOM!!

The impact made me wince a little, but I wasn't worried. I knew that something like that couldn't hurt her. 

"Shit. Shit!" 

She got up from the ground while cursing. Something that was rather rare for her. Though it always happened while we were fighting. 

Still, I couldn't help but be impressed by how strong her body was. Even though she hit a reinforced wall with such a speed, aside from some ruffled hair and most likely ruffled pride, she had no wounds. 

"Rem, I always told you that you should use your magic when we are sparing. Your physical attack would hardly reach me."

I wasn't trying to brag. But as long as the difference in stats wasn't so overwhelming that I couldn't even react, fighting in close combat against me was suicide. 

"I won't!!" 

I sighed but didn't insist. I understood her or rather I understood why she was acting like that. Physical might was basically a matter of pride for the Oni. 

What was an Oni? They were recognized as being the strongest humanoids race. In their heyday, a full-powered Oni could be a match for hundreds and wreck havoc on any battlefield. 

But, Rem wasn't a true Oni… Because she only had one horn. If not for Ram, she would have most likely been killed at her birth. 

The combat between me and Rem continued. She knew very well that my power wasn't all mighty. If someone was too fast or too strong they could easily mess my timing and destroy me. 

But… she was neither fast nor strong enough to do so and that more than anything was likely what was eating her. 

Ten minutes later. 

BOOM!! 

"*Argh!*" 

Rem grunted painfully after her head made a rather intimate acquaintance with the ground. 

Her maid clothes were completely ruined and she was slightly bleeding from a cut on her forehead. 

Still, I didn't look at her with pity. She was much more of a warrior than I was. Of course, I had other ways to incapacitate her, but it would serve no use to use them in this already meaningless battle. 

"There's no meaning to this training if you won't use your magic. So this is enough for now. At least I managed to grasp a little more the timing of using my power."

I could see her try to raise her body in protest but I simply pinned her down with my foot.

<<Gravity 10x>>

"Gah!"

She screamed a little and she was sent back sprawling to the ground. Still, even though she was struggling with my full weight boosted 10 times, she could still somehow raise her body. 

"Frankly you are very impressive. I admit that If I didn't use my power nor any weapons, I would lose to you in a straight-up fight. Still, this is enough. I am not into torturing people close to me."

"I. Will not stop. I… Must be stronger than that." 

Those words of hers didn't sit well with me. I knew how stubborn she could, 

"*Sigh* if you won't stop yourself then I guess I will have to make you stop."

<<Melancholia: Heat absorption.>>

With my foot still on her back. I slowly but surely began to absorb her heat. 

This was the second ability the authority of Melancholia gifted me. 

This ability was similar to that of Puck and could potentially allow me to absorb the heat of the whole world and put the world in a new ice age. 

Though as of now, the amount of heat I could absorb was rather small. It was enough. 

Rem struggled slowly but surely ceased as her body heat began to escape. Her body curled as she fought to resist the cold that was filling her body. 

I could easily kill her like that if I wished. I just had to absorb all the heat from her body. But this wasn't my goal. 

Once I judged that she was totally unable to move. I simply stopped. 

"Match finished. Akira-sama won."