Chapter 86: Mountain March
The wheels with side diagonal lines came closer and closer, and the axles made strange clicking sounds as they rolled over the weeds on the road.

In the long mountain canyon, shrouded in clouds and mist, the vertical mountain walls are covered with moss, revealing their dry green skin.

On the undulating mountainside, citizens of the Papal States dressed in black lined up in two long rows and passed through the zigzag mountain road with trepidation.

They pushed the cart carefully, wearing straw sandals, and pounded the crutches in their hands on the ground again and again to prevent themselves from falling off the road.

On the right side of the mountain path is a slope covered with short, furry grass, and on the left side is a horseshoe-shaped mountain that rolls down in a round, stepped manner.

From time to time, stones from the upper layer would roll down the slope and hit the people climbing below.

If you fall from here, you won't die, but you will at least break some bones.

The original elms, irises and long-leaf grasses turned into fir, spruce, edelweiss, etc. as the terrain gradually rose.

When someone looks up, there are hills above hills and peaks above peaks.

Looking left and right, it felt like being held in a pair of giant hands, and only through the gaps between the fingers could I see the gloomy white sky.

As the terrain gets higher, the weather gets colder.

Even the citizens of the Papal States, who wore black vests and short capes over their ordinary clothes, could not help shivering at this moment.

After walking on the flat road, Horn and others' speed became slower and slower on this mountain path.

Two days have passed since Danji's death. During these two days, Horn and others have walked about 30 miles.

It is still about 60 miles away from entering the Blackbone Swamp, and 410 miles away from Fort Jeanne d'Arc.

"Where are we now?" Horn asked Sissi who was sitting on a big rock to rest.

After two days of rest, Horn's leg injury had healed a lot, but he was almost suffering from a stomach injury from riding the carriage.

Riding in a carriage like this without rubber tires is almost life-threatening.

At this moment, he was leaning on his crozier and walking slowly like everyone else.

Of course, in exchange, Horn had armored vehicles protecting him in front and four companies of children's soldiers guarding him.

“This section is the most difficult part of the journey. After climbing these mountains, you will reach Mount Yil.

Going around Yier Mountain, there is a plank road. Going down the plank road, we will go down from the high platform of the mountains. "

When Sissi saw Horn arriving, she also stood up and walked forward again with the help of her crutches.

"How long is this distance?"

"Including the descent, it's about 20 miles, but don't worry, we're only on the mountainside of the high platform, it's not difficult to go down the mountain." Sissi touched her smooth chin, "After we get down the mountain, there's a base nearby called Anderburg, which is just right for us to replenish supplies."

"Okay, pass it on. Hang in there. We'll reach the supply point in another day. When we get to Jeanne d'Arc, I'll treat everyone to a three-day buffet. There are better days ahead!"

"Pass it on. When we get to Chateau Jeanne, we'll have a three-day buffet!"

The child soldiers stood at the edge of the mountain path, one facing up and one facing down, shouting Horn's orders.

"Oh, by the way, where's my big bow?" Horn held the bow with the word "snow" on it hanging from his waist. "I gave it back to you the day before yesterday. It's not ready yet?"

"It's broken and is being repaired. We have to wait until tonight for Na to come over and use lightning to recast it." Xixi replied unhappily.

Horn was shocked: "It's broken, how could it be broken?"

"Nonsense, this orichalcum also has a limit to its transformation. I don't know what you shot yesterday, but it did push the orichalcum beyond the limit."

Horn frowned. "That's impossible. I checked it when I came back and it was fine."

"The inside is damaged." Sissi tied her hair up and changed into a hunting suit. She was obviously a man, but no matter how you looked at her, she looked like a woman dressed as a man.

"To be honest, this is the first time I've seen this happen with pure mountain copper. Generally speaking, we believe that the elasticity of pure mountain copper has no upper limit for humans."

Speaking of this, Xixi couldn't help but recall the scene of Horn kneading the orichalcum rod that day.

I don’t know if he saw it wrong or what, but the bronze rod had returned to its original position several times, but it twisted in the opposite direction.

Normally, if you twist an Orichalcum Rod into a "(" shape, for example, it will automatically return to a "|" shape.

However, after Horn twisted the copper rod, it continued to deform after it returned to its original shape. It first became "(" and then became ")", and it returned to its original vertical shape after repeating this many times.

According to alchemists, orichalcum softens when it comes into contact with mana, changes shape to absorb and store mana, and releases mana when it returns to its original shape.

However, when the shapeshifting absorbs mana, it will absorb more mana than the amount needed to restore its own shapeshifting, and then expel the excess mana after restoring its own shapeshifting.

Why is he shaking his head like that?
"I thought the upper limit of orichalcum's deformation was very high, but this doesn't work." Horn complained with shaking legs. Turning his head, Sissi looked at Horn as if he was looking at a monster.

The two bow arms of this bow are made of pure mountain copper, a full 16 pounds of pure mountain copper. It is estimated that the bow force is comparable to that of a small crossbow.

Judging from the remains found at the scene yesterday, Horn shot out half a short spear weighing more than a pound with one arrow.

Even if a witch came, let alone exceeding the limit, even if she shot an arrow, she would faint. An ordinary wizard would be brain dead after being shot by one arrow.

As a result, this old man not only pulled the mountain bronze bow to its limit, but after shooting the arrow, he was able to walk back by himself.

"How much magic power do you have?" Xixi couldn't help asking, "Even witches don't have as much magic power as you."

"How would I know? I can't use magic." Horn slapped his forehead and raised a finger. "Hey, actually I've always wanted to ask, is this your first time making an orichalcum bow?"

"if not?"

"Has no one ever thought of using this to make an orichalcum bow before?"

Xixi shook her head: "That's not necessary."

Seeing that Horn still didn't understand, he explained it carefully.

Orichalcum is an alchemical product with a simple recipe: 14 pounds of refined iron, 2 pounds of copper, a spoonful of concentrate powder, a spoonful of charcoal powder, two drops of sunflower juice, and four wizards performing an alchemical ceremony.

Of course, the mountain copper produced by this method is basically sponge mountain copper, which is full of holes inside.

If you want it to turn into normal mountain copper, you have to put it in the furnace and recast it.

Since the thermal conductivity of metals in this world is somewhat poor, the cost of pyrometallurgy is very high.

In addition, the cost of refined iron materials required for mountain copper itself is also very high, resulting in the cost of smelting 1 pound of mountain copper being enough to make half a set of armor.

If a bow is made of orichalcum, it will be difficult to penetrate armor if the orichalcum content is too low. If the content is too high, a single arrow will basically turn a person into a vegetable.

This kind of mountain bronze bow can only be used by people with magical powers, but since they all have magical powers, why don't they use magic?
It was because of this freak Horn, who had mana but no spells, that he needed this mountain bronze bow.

The normal use of this kind of mountain copper is to be used by demon hunters to make breastplates or vests, and they are basically mountain copper iron alloys.

The main purpose is to defend against physical witches.

When a flesh-type witch attacks an orichalcum armor, her magic power will be drained and the enhancement of her flesh will be weakened. The more she transforms, the more it will be weakened.

However, this only reduces damage. There is an upper limit to the deformation of orichalcum. Breaking the upper limit will only cause the orichalcum to explode.

Before, a witch had smashed a bronze armor with one punch.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty."

As the two were chatting, they saw a child soldier stumbling towards them from the front.

Horn and Sissi looked at each other, their eyes couldn't help but become serious.

This child soldier was assigned to the first column of ten households. If something happened ahead, they would all be delayed.

Their journey cannot be delayed at all.

Although for some unknown reason their scouts had not found any trace of the church infantry, this did not mean that they no longer existed.

Maybe they are waiting for Horn and his gang at some mountain pass.

"Ha, ha, Elder Sachis, call me, tell me to pass on the message..."

"Don't panic, what happened?"

Horn held his shoulders and asked calmly.

"He asked me to ask, is it true that after arriving at Chrysanthemum Castle, you won't put down your sword for three years?"

Horn was silent for a full five seconds.

"…Tell him that if his ears are useless, just cut them off. Come back and interrogate him after you have found out the truth."

"Hiss." The little soldier hesitated, "Will this hurt him?"

"Hurt your head!"

Horn's shouts echoed back and forth in the valley, blending with the clouds and mist like a beautiful song.

(End of this chapter)