Realizing the Shield [Chie]

"No, there isn't anything to add." Shizuku confirmed before getting ready to restart.

Again, they synchronized their voices and efforts, attempting to invoke the spell:

集え、兵士達！
^{Tsudoe, Heishi-tachi!
Gather, soldiers!}

This time, it must be simultaneous.

十兵・百兵・千兵
^{Jūbei・Mohei・Chihei
Ten Soldiers, Hundred Soldiers, Thousand Soldiers}

Shizuku re-used the previous image: A vast army with seemingly no end. In the hands of each and every soldier was a shield. For every shield they held Shizuku must invoke a single barrier.

And, with the help of Kusanagi Chie, she had enough power to comfortably do it. Shizuku dedicated the entirety of her senses into weaving the technique: For every sensation she felt, she erected a barrier. For every image that whizzed through her mind, she erected a barrier.

万兵・十万兵
^{Manpei Jūmanhei
Ten Thousand Soldiers, Hundred Thousand Soldiers}

In a flash twenty entire panels materialized in a hexagonal formation, each made up of layers upon layers of barriers. Both of them would most likely feel the extreme numbers.

Yet, the mass of it all did not require extreme amounts of energy. In fact, the spiritual energy requirement was less than it's actual defensive power. At least, that's how it felt, as it's actual defensive power remained untested.

The technique did, however, require a mass amount of micromanagement to even create. The fact that Shizuku pulled off this level on the second try was a true testament to her skill and potential, despite an obvious lack of power.

There was still one more aspect of this technique left, though: Movement. It used movement in order to sustain and maintain itself. If left as is, it would simply vanish before an attack could even reach it.

陣形を整え前を進-
^{Jinkei o totonoe mae o susu-
Assume formation, march on-}

The entirety of the technique violently shattered, sending bits of disintegrating barrier all over the place. Immediately, Shizuku jerked backwards in response, getting herself out of the explosion radius.

Then she remembered the other person with her.

"Kusanagi-san! Are you alright?" She called out. Hopefully she, too, had reacted on time, or else she would in the very least have to deal with a concussion.

Just what happened there?

Shizuku herself knew, since she, once again, was the cause of the blunder: She had used too much spiritual energy when creating the "movement" of the barriers, causing them to move too quickly and crash into each other.

Still, though, their safety was of a greater priority. If one of them were injured, it would have to be left for another time.

"I'm fine here. Let's have a quick break before we go through the rest of it. I need a moment to make some notes."

Shizuku wasn't sure if Kusanagi was simply acting tough, or if she was actually uninjured. However, the disaster had shown one weakness to the technique Shizuku hadn't considered, and now was a good time to take a look at it.

Sitting down, Shizuku took a seat, then picked up and unfurled the scroll. Looking through her work again, she reviewed it, thinking about the implications of the blunder.

---

The movement of the barriers may make it weak to techniques involving vibrations.

Of course, this line of thought did not have very much evidence to back it up, but she tried to run simulations through her head, rubbing her forehead as she took several minutes to do so.

The fluid movements may either cause it to a) completely ignore vibratory movements (the most favorable outcome), or b) require large-scale vibrations on a mass majority of the barriers.

Since Shizuku herself did not possess such techniques to test, she would have to put it aside. The main goal right now is to fully realize the Phalanx in it's defensive form, then attempt to realize it's offensive form.

Having Kusanagi Chie was an indispensable aid, since chances were if Shizuku was to execute an appropriately-scaled version of the Phalanx to contain a target, Shizuku would probably only be able to do it one time.

And it would not last for long. Even then, learning to form a technique was not easy. It required skill and constant practice, something Shizuku was unable to achieve in a realistic timeframe for this specific barrier spell due to her relatively small spiritual energy capacity.

---

With her mental notes complete, Shizuku rolled up the scroll and set it down again, a flap of her fins pushing her off the ground and violating gravity again.

"Okay, I'm done with the 'notes'. Are you ready to continue or do you require a longer break?" Shizuku asked, hoping Kusanagi's condition was as well as she claimed.

All Shizuku could really do was hope she was right about the shield's resistances and press on.

Shizuku ultimately left the water alone, though she did set the bottle upright when she got up. She had been too absorbed in her notes until then.

"It's not hard to find the error, but things get real tough when the error makes implications about things." Shizuku explained.

"Still, though, let's go for it and finish this up.

Now it was the moment of truth. The moment the wall of soldiers could truly take formation.

---

Taking their stances, the two of them would chant the spell once more:

集え、兵士達！
^{Tsudoe, Heishi-tachi!
Gather, soldiers!}

Kusanagi's spiritual energy and Shizuku's direction merged, creating a river of power.

十兵・百兵・千兵
^{Jūbei・Mohei・Chihei
Ten Soldiers, Hundred Soldiers, Thousand Soldiers}

Every drop, every current in the river was exploited, and out of it formed a shield. A single bead of sweat rolled down Shizuku's face as she concentrated on the crazy mass of barriers this technique was.

万兵・十万兵
^{Manpei Jūmanhei
Ten Thousand Soldiers, Hundred Thousand Soldiers}

Instantaneously an entire river of barriers formed, appearing as twenty hexagonal panels. Each panel was an army in it's own right, and every soldier in that army bore a shield.

陣形を整え前を進め!
^{Jinkei o totonoe mae o susume!
Assume formation, march onward!}

The river was instantly converted into a swirling pool, each tiny particle of water moving freely around each other, but never exiting the boundaries that was the space it was given.

---

Panting, Shizuku gazed at the completed spell: A shield of countless shields that could ultimately protect anything: The Iron Wall of a Thousand Generals. The Phalanx.

"We've... done it, Kusanagi-san. Was all Shizuku could say as she took a moment to push away her fatigue.

"Okay, so would you like to do the honors of testing the integrity of this barrier, before we move on to more complicated things?"

After all, it wouldn't be an omnipotent barrier if it couldn't stand the strongest attack any of them could throw at it.

The bottle exploded with a powerful force. It wasn't something above Captain-level, but it was definitely strong enough to test the shield. Shizuku watched intently, although she still had to direct at least some attention to keeping the shield active. It was not one of those fire-and-forget Kidō. The folding motion which caused the layers of barriers to constantly refresh had to be maintained, but it was extremely easy relative to actually creating the Kidō itself.

When the smoke finally cleared, the shield was still standing. The barrier had seemingly taken no damage, but Shizuku (and Chie if she had noticed it fast enough) knew what happened: The explosion had produced cracks in the frontmost layers, but the layers themselves were replaced some fractions of a second after.

Shizuku was satisfied with the results, but she wanted to know if her "partner" was.

"I think this suffices for the test. Do you, Kusanagi-san?" She asked. Either way, Shizuku had a bit more to cover: The offensive application.

"Because the next test is the offensive application test. Shizuku added. Still, she would wait for Chie's reply before continuing.

"Considering the most draining part is done, yes. Yes I can. Get ready to manifest the barrier." Shizuku replied, turning her focus back into the Kidō spell.

Concentrating, she imaged the many neatly grouped battalions in a row that the Kidō was comprised of. Selecting the group closest to the middle, she imagined them rearing up to charge forward towards the enemy. Channeling her spiritual power into that group, she increased the internal motion vectors, as well as setting a new, larger vector forwards.

"Please project the barrier now, Kusanagi-san." Shizuku gave the signal as she prepared to fire.

When she had prepared her soldiers to a satisfactory level, she set them off charging towards the horizon. Shields raised, they ran in unison, faster than the horses, towards the enemy that they were to conquer.

「千軍鉄壁：衝突！」
^{Sengun Teppeki: Shōtotsu!
(Phalanx: Krousis)}

The middlemost hexagonal panel instantly accelerated, shooting off towards the target set in front of it, if it was there. If it would collide, it would most definitely smash into the target, shattering both the projectile and the target at the same time.

That was, of course, assuming Chie hadn't put up a barrier too powerful.

The speeding troupe of barriers crashed into the large wall, shattering against it and producing a large shockwave. Bits of barrier were sent everywhere, which was blocked by the shield in front of Shizuku, using the remaining panels to rearrange itself so that she could be covered. It also kicked up a lot of dust, which obscured the view.

When the dust settled, it revealed the target, still standing. Sure, the opposing wall had large cracks in it and was on the verge of breaking, but it had ultimately held.

"Damn." Shizuku said to herself. It eventually came back to her that this spell was meant to be an all-powerful defense, not an all-powerful offense. Looking at it, the expended panel had already been replaced. This got her considering the option of firing multiple in a row, but it would compromise defense too much.

Still, though, the creation of the spell was a success.

"Okay, it's finally over." Shizuku said, concluding the "experiment" by throwing her hands up in the air in triumph. No longer held up conciously by Shizuku, the panels faded away slowly, though it would actually take a few minutes to do so as it was not conciously dispelled.

"Thanks for your help, Kusanagi-san. I couldn't have done it without you." Shizuku gave a rather clichéd expression of gratitude, but one nonetheless. It was all over and she never believed it would have even started, if it wasn't for Kusanagi.

It was no longer just a theory.