The shadow clone did not last long against the colourful lotus's attack. In only a short while, it was kicked apart.
The radiant beams were merely a disguise. The truly powerful part had always been the tiny body beneath the lotus.
From the information returned by the shadow clone, Ronin clearly understood how the colourful lotus fought.
During battle, the energy within the lotus would gradually flow into the little humanoid beneath it. The creature's body would expand, and the larger it became, the stronger its attacks grew.
In the end, the shadow clone had been shattered by a single kick from a giant over six metres tall, with lotus-like short hair growing from its head.
The bronze armour worn by the shadow clone had shattered along with it.
However, based on Ronin's understanding of the bronze armour and its token, as long as the token had not been destroyed, injecting enough energy into it should allow the broken armour to restore itself.
Less than five minutes after Ronin's group left, however, an astonishingly vicious aura erupted from where the fountain had once stood.
It was the colourful lotus.
When it returned, all it saw was a sunken crater. The fountain itself had already vanished without a trace.
Everything near the former fountain became a target of the colourful lotus's attacks.
It had never imagined that the damned thieves would use a diversion against it, taking advantage of the time it spent chasing after the herbs to steal its entire home.
Had it realised that sooner, it would never have left the fountain. They were only a few herbs; it could always cultivate more.
But it was too late now.
The commotion caused by the colourful lotus seemed to be rather large. As Ronin's group moved through the city in their bronze armour, they saw many Gold and Silver Ingots awaken from standby mode and rush toward the fountain's former location.
But that was no longer Ronin's concern.
The bronze armour was truly useful. While wearing it, they could walk through the city without attracting even the slightest attention from the Gold and Silver Ingots.
This allowed them to continue advancing toward the city centre.
Along the way, they saw more fountains, as well as the results of the shadow clone's work from the previous night.
Many buildings showed signs of damage, all caused by the ghosts that had rioted under the shadow clone's influence.
During the day, however, those ghosts had hidden themselves again, causing the entire city to become silent once more.
The chaos did not extend very far.
After the group travelled a certain distance, the city returned to the lifeless appearance it had possessed when Ronin's group first arrived.
Aside from the occasional fountain, there was no greenery or living creature anywhere. There were only houses built from stone and Gold and Silver Ingots quietly resting in standby mode.
Even occasionally encountering two Gold and Silver Ingots patrolling the streets gave them an oddly familiar sense of comfort.
"Have we been travelling in a straight line this entire time?" After walking continuously for several hours, Kurapika finally stopped and voiced the doubt everyone had been feeling.
At their current unrestricted travelling speed, several hours should have been enough for them to cover hundreds of kilometres.
Yet even after travelling that far, all they could see was the same unchanging stone cityscape.
"Even if the ancient city is enormous, isn't this a little too big?" Shizuku also stopped.
Even she, who normally disliked speaking more than necessary, could not resist complaining while staring at the endless city that seemed to have no centre.
"This is the ancient labyrinth city. I suppose it's finally showing us the significance of the word 'labyrinth,'" Ronin said.
He no longer intended to continue walking either.
The sky was already beginning to darken again. It seemed that night would soon descend once more.
What they needed most now was not to continue wandering through the city, but to find a building where they could rest and recover.
Their daytime journey had not been tiring enough to exhaust them physically.
But wandering without seeing any end was meaningless at night as well.
There was also one question that had constantly concerned Ronin.
What kind of labyrinth was this ancient city?
Just yesterday, Ging and the shadow clone had both separated from the group and travelled alone.
They had gone considerable distances, leaving markers along the way, and had successfully followed those markers back to the place where the group had stayed.
When they had first allowed Ging to operate alone, everyone had prepared for the possibility that he might become lost.
Ronin and the others had even devised several contingency plans, but none had been necessary. That was why they had used a shadow clone when luring the second green-faced, fanged giant.
But today, the ancient labyrinth city had taught them another lesson.
They did not know whether this damned city was simply vast beyond imagination or possessed some unusual labyrinthine property.
There were many buildings nearby. Ronin casually chose one and led everyone inside.
The dangers of the buildings came from two sources.
One was the Gold and Silver Ingots permanently stationed outside. The other was whatever might appear within the building.
The first danger would not be triggered because of their bronze armour.
As for the second, Ronin was not worried at all.
The moment they saw the empty room, Ronin and the others understood the building's situation.
An empty building most likely meant that a ghost would appear there at night.
Ronin had already dealt with many such creatures. They posed little threat.
"Let's fly," Ging said seriously as he sat down on the floor, took a compressed biscuit from his clothes, and slowly broke it apart to eat. "The view from the air will be much clearer."
"But the moment we take off, even while wearing bronze armour, we'll immediately trigger attacks from the nearby Gold and Silver Ingots," Ronin replied.
It was not as though he had never tested it.
The bronze armour's protection vanished the moment its wearer rose above the height of the city's buildings.
This restriction also applied to the green-faced, fanged giants. Ronin had tested it during the day.
The giants were generally more than ten metres tall, while every building in the ancient city exceeded twenty metres.
If they only had a shadow clone fly at low altitude, there would be no point in scouting.
But if the clone flew higher, its strength would not allow it to survive long beneath attacks from the city's enormous number of Gold and Silver Ingots.
With such a limited travelling distance, it would be impossible to determine how the ancient city's layout changed.
However, since Ging had brought up the suggestion himself, he had clearly thought of a solution.
"I'll provide cover," Ging said confidently.
He then demonstrated another ability.
A massive smoking pipe rapidly materialised in his raised hand.
The instant Ronin saw the pipe, he understood Ging's plan.
Still, watching Ging use Conjuration to create a smoking pipe, then use Emission to blow out smoke and shape it into Morel's signature Deep Purple smoke soldiers, left Ronin somewhat stunned.
"Your ability really does ignore common sense," Ronin sighed.
However, after counting them, he found that Ging had created only a little over thirty smoke soldiers.
He could not compare to Morel at all.
"Right back at you," Ging replied.