| “ | This is the blade I've been keeping, just to get back at Royal bastards like you one day. Now die upon this blade, Richemont!
— Angnès Chevalier de Milan
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” |
Agnès Chevalier de Milan is an inhabitant of the country of Tristain, on the continent of Halkegnia, part of a fantasy world at a roughly 17th-century technology level, the world into which Saito Hiraga was summoned into in the previous season. Agnès was born a non-magical "commoner", however, she has, unlike most of her class, gained noble status in spite of her lack of magical powers, due to her military prowess, with both melee weapons and the relatively new techology in Halkegnia of firearms.
Agnès was born in the small village of Danguteal, until while she was still a child, the village was designated by a noble named Lord Richemont as being wiped out by a plague, and a group of fire mages were sent to burn it down. Agnès was the only survivor, being rescued from the flames by an unknown rescuer. Agnès later discovered the destruction of Danguteal was no accident- Richemont intended to wipe out the village- a centre of dissent. This incident instilled a lifelong hatred of mages in Agnès. The one exception was Henrietta, the princess and later queen of Tristain, who Agnès is deeply loyal to, as she is the only noble who trusted her and valued her talent, in spite of her being a commoner. It was Henrietta that promoted Agnès to the commander of the musketeer unit and the royal guard.
Agnès first encounters Saito when she arrived at the Tristain Academy of Magic to recruit students into the military for a war against the country of Albion. Agnès was sent to train the recruits in unarmed and melee combat, a method of fighting most of the young mages found pointless because of their powers. During this time, she also showed Saito a weakness in his own powers- his powers only enhance his skill with a purpose-built weapon, not an improvised weapon.
Battle vs. Gregor Clegane (TV Series) (by SPARTAN 119)[]
Mummer's Ford, The Riverlands, Westeros
Anies Chevalier de Milan walked out of the portal created by Louise's World Gate Spell, leading five Tristainian musketeers, over the crest of a green, grass-covered crest in order to investigate a plume of smoke. From the hill, Anies could see the burning ruins of a town lying next to a river, similar to the one you might find in Halkeginia, consisting of wooden houses which presumably had thatched roofs before they were torched. Within the town, thousands of corpses lay on the ground, picked at by carrion birds.
As they cautiously moved closer, they discovered that the corpses outside the town were mostly soldiers, armed with a swords, axes, polearms, and crossbows, similar to soldiers from Halkeginia, save for the fact that were none that appeared to have been mages. There were those who appeared to have been nobles, but they carried swords and polearms like their men. There was also not one corpse they held a musket, pistol, or any other type of firearm. Maybe magic and gunpowder did not exist in this world, Anies wondered.
As they entered, town itself, the type of bodies they found changed- these were not soldiers, but ordinary townsfolk, unarmed, save for a few who were found near an axe or pitchfork, which they had not doubt picked up in a vain attempt to defend themselves. Men, women, and even children lay dead, blood pooling on the ground. From the look of their bodies, Anies though that most of the women and even young girls had been brutally violated before they were murdered.
The sight of the massacre brought back distant memories of her tragic childhood, the burning of her hometown. This brought forth a fury in Anies. Who ever did this would pay with their lives!
As the musketeer squad walked into the town square, they were met by about twenty men, led by a massive armored knight.
"These barbarians will die for their crimes", Anies said, before giving the order, "READY... AIM... FIRE!"
Five muskets blazed, three of them hitting their mark, bullets striking two of Gregor Clegane's men in the chest, and one more in the head. They became the first men in Westeros killed by firearms. Second later, Anies hurled a black powder grenade into the horde.
One of the Westerossi soldiers picked up the peculiar device, wondering what it was. Seeing this, Anies gave a sadistic grin. She must have been right, "They had never seen gunpowder before".
The grenade exploded in the hand of the Lannister man-at-arms, blowing off his hand and riddling his body with shrapnel. Two more of Gregor's men were also killed in the flash of fire. The explosion, as well as the muskets had struck fear into the hearts of Clegane's men.
"Is that magic!?", one of the Westerossi soldiers asked.
"Its the Valyrians! They have returned to reclaim their Freehold!", another soldier yelled, "Run for your lives!"
About ten of the Lannister men at arms fled the battle, running across the River Trident, leaving only Clegane and five others still standing their ground.
"COWARDS!", Gregor Clegane yelled furiously, "I'll take I'll your heads!"
Gregor then raised his colossal sword and yelled "CHARGE!"
A Lannister crossbowman fired, striking one of the musketeers in the throat, killing her, before drawing his sword and charging with the rest of the horde. The crack of gunfire and the smell of gunpowder filled the air as the musketeers fired their pistols, killing one of the Westerossi soldiers, though the other shots missed or bounced off their armor.
The Tristainian musketeers drew their swords, and steel clashed against steel. In the brutal melee, The Mountain's greatsword cleaved through the necks of two Tristainian musketeers, while Anies ran her blade through a Lannister man-at-arms.
When the sounds of battle died down, only one from each side remained standing, Anies Chevalier de Milan, the elite musketeer of Tristain, and Gregor Clegane, the towering knight of the Lannister House, known as "The Mountain".
Anies drew her flintlock pistol and took deadly aim at Gregor Clegane with a cold fury in her eyes as she squeezed the trigger. The striker fell forward, impacting the flint, sending a spark into the pain, which in turn ignited the main charge in a fraction of a second. The pistol propelled a ball of lead toward Gregor faster than any bowshot, faster than the eye could see.
The bullet slammed into Gregor's breastplate with a "clang". The shot had dented, but not pierced the thick armor that clad the giant warrior.
The Mountain laughed at the feeble weapon Anies had fired at him. Many in Westeros would have been frightened by the new weapon, but Gregor Clegane was not impressed by a noisy tube, especially not one that couldn't pierce his armor. If this was magic, clearly the the ancient tales had exaggerated its power.
Gregor Clegane charged forth with a furious roar, swinging his sword in a wide diagonal strike, which Anies only narrowly evaded by jumping to the side. Anies then jumped backward, avoiding a horizontal swing of the Mountain's blade.
Anies was now cornered against the wall of a ruined house. She appeared to be trapped, but it was exactly as she had planned. Anies pushed off the wall and thrust her sword forward, striking Gregor straight into his chest. With the added force of her lunge and her full weight behind the thrust, her blade has managed to pierce even the seeming impenetrable armor of The Mountain.... by about one millimeter.
Gregor Clegane was momentarily surprised by the small prick of pain where the point of Anies' blade had just barely pierced his armor and broken his skin. Not having the space to swing his greatsword, The Mountain struck Anies in the face breaking her jaw and releasing a mist of blood.
Anies Chevalier de Milan wiped the blood off her face and tried to bring herself to her feet. Before she could, however, Gregor brought his foot down on her left leg, crushing the bones in a spray of blood, before repeating crushing her right femur in the same manner.
Gregor then placed himself on top of Anies. From the way he tried to tear at her clothing, it was clear to her that he intended to force himself on her before he finished her off. She would not give him the pleasure of violating her, instead, she would take her foe with her to the afterlife.
With the last of her strength, Anies lit a black powder grenade. Gregor, however, now knew exactly what the device was capable of- he had seen one of their "fireballs" tear through his men just minutes earlier. Gregor Clegane got off Anies and rolled several feet way, before turning his back towards the blast and shielding his exposed face.
The grenade exploded in a flash of fire. When the sound of the explosion faded from his ears, he turned back to the lifeless upper half of Anies' body lying separated from her legs, her lower torso having been blasted to a bloody pulp by her own weapon.
As Gregor retrieved his sword from Anies' body, however, he heard a sound like a roaring beast, along with a sound a bit like a chain being reel in. Gregor turned and felt something he could not remember the last time he felt... fear.
What looked like a massive iron carriage rolled towards him, yet there was no horse pulling it. It didn't seem to have wheels like a carriage either, but rather, it rolled along on what looked a bit like a chain with flattened links. It looked more like a rolling steel castle with a single tower in the center than anything, and in the middle of the "tower" was what looked like a giant version of those those "fire tubes" his foe had used against him.
On top of the "rolling fortress" stood a black-haired young man, looking no older than 18, clad in blue clothing unlike any fabric he had seen before. The man spoke and said, "This is for Anies".
After he spoke, the man descended down into the tower of the "rolling castle". Gregor was frozen in terror as the giant tube lowered to point directly at him. There was a flash of fire and a thunderous roar. At that moment, The Mountain learned that in there existed a substance from another world that could turn mountains to dust. This substance was called trinitrotoluene. In the coming months, Clegane's masters, the house of the lion banner would learn to fear the roar of the Tiger.
WINNER: Gregor Clegane (or really Saito Hiraga)
Expert's Opinion[]
Gregor Clegane won this battle in spite of Anies' firearms and superior agility and training, through his sheer brute strength, as well as the massively powerful longsword and nigh-impenetrable armor that it allowed him to use. This was compounded by Anies' experience consisting of fighting fire mages, with destructive flame attacks, but often lower levels of physical strength, a polar opposite of the non-magical, but physically imposing Gregor.
To see the original battle, weapons, and votes, click here.
Battle vs. Yatorishino "Yatori" Igsem (by SPARTAN 119)[]
Agnès Chevalier de Milan: 
Agnes Chevalier de Milan lead a recon squad of five elite Tristainian Musketeers along the main road of an abandoned village, towards the main town square, having been sent to investigate reports of an unknown force attacking Tristainia patrols in the area. Little did the know, however, that they were being watched. For squad of Katjavarna soldiers led by Yatorishino Igsem lay in wait in the buildings on the other side of the square.
Upon Yatori giving the order, six crossbows discharged with a "clack". Most of the bolts missed their mark, but two bolts struck home, one hitting a Tristainian in the chest, and the second right between the eyes. "Ambush!", Agnes yelled, "Take cover!".
"Over there, in the Hall of the Founder!", one of the musketeers called out, pointing to a structure that an observer from Earth might describe as a "church".
"Return fire!", Agnes ordered as she got up from behind the wagon and took aim at a Katjavarnan soldier in the tower of the Hall of the Founder and squeezed the trigger. Her musket discharged in a flash of fire and a cloud of smoke, striking her target in the center of the chest. If the bullet didn't kill him, the fall from tower to certainly did. 
Less than a second later, the rest of the musketeer squad fired, killing one more Katjavarnan.
The remaining Katjavarnan soldiers retaliated with flaming crossbow bolts, several of them impacting the wooden crates and thatched houses that the Tristainians took cover behind. One of thatched houses which was ignited by the bolts had a piece of flaming debris fall right on a Tristainian grenadier taking cover inside the house, which instantly detonated her two black powder grenades. Thankfully, none of the other Tristainians were close enough to be killed in the blast.
Realizing she had to get away from the rapidly spreading flames, and having no way to go but forward, Agnes ordered, "Grenades, into the windows!" Anies lit a black powder grenade, before she ran forward, evading incoming crossbow bolts by sheer dumb luck, and lobbed the iron sphere into the direction of the Hall of the Founder. Four of the crude explosive devices smashed through the stained glass windows and exploded within. The body of a Katjavarnan soldier was hurled through the window by the force of the blast, as a second was riddled with shrapnel.
"Charge!" Agnes yelled, drawing her sword, rushing toward the Hall of Founder, now shrouded in black powder smoke. As they charged, one of the Tristainians fell forward, hit by a crossbow bolt from the defenders.
With a flash of steel, Agnes blazed and the last surviving Tristainian Musketeer emerged from the smoke, entering the Hall of the Founder with swords drawn. A surprised Katjavarnan soldier tried to defend with their sabre, only for Agnes to evade the attack and run them through with her longsword. The other Tristainian swung her sword, only for it to be halted against Yatori's parrying dagger, before, in one fluid movement, Yatori made a cut that sliced the musketeer's throat.
With a shout of rage, Agnes ran at Yatori, making at cut at her with met Yatori's sabre with a flash of steel. Yatori attempted to attack with her dagger, only for Agnes to evade the strike and retaliate with a swing that struck Yatori's had. The wound was only superficial, it hadn't severed any of her fingers, but the saber was knocked out of her hand. Agnes pressed her advantage, making a slash aimed at Yatori's through.
Yatori parried Agnes's strike with her dagger as, with her other hand, Yatori pulled a small object out of her pocket. Agnes could not have predicted what would happen next- Yatori the small object turned out to be a small creature a few centimeters in height.
"Shia!", Yatori yelled and, at her command, the creature fired a jet of flame at Agnes. As her vision was covered in flames and smoke, Agnes felt a sharp in her chest, as a fluid filled her throat. "It was blood", she realized as she collapsed to the floor from her wounds.
As Agnes breathed her last, Yatori wiped off her blade on the clothing of a downed musketeer and left to report the battle to Katjavarnan command.
WINNER: Yatorishino Igsem
Expert's Opinion[]
While Agnes has the superior long-range weapons, the experts believe that, in the end, this battle would come down to close-range combat, where the superior swordsmanship of Yatori and her Katjavarnan cavalrymen would come into its own. Another factor that contributed to Yatori's victory was her greater experience in close combat.