The deep sea... Underwater City.
With its gateway gone, Underwater City now resembled an enormous cluster of glowing coral growing out of the seabed... Its breached outer barrier had soon been repaired.
That had only been possible because the entire city had abandoned all other repairs and thrown everything into the emergency effort—even so, Underwater City's reserves of magic energy were now dangerously low.
The limited magic energy supply could only support essential departments such as hospitals and construction crews—fortunately, public order here was almost absurdly good, so none of those scarce resources had to be spent on keeping the peace.
Even so, the people of Underwater City, accustomed to the conveniences of Magic Energy Technology, now faced unprecedented difficulties.
They had to shoulder heavy tools themselves and even transport supplies on foot... Everything proceeded slowly.
The first day after the great disaster.
Several kilometers away from Underwater City.
The Underwater City Witch was saying goodbye to the Siren Maiden there.
"You don't actually have to leave." After a long silence, the Underwater City Witch shook her head. "This isn't the end. Everything is only just beginning... This city is experiencing a rebirth unlike anything before."
Helen said softly, "Just as you said, everything is only beginning. For you, this is a rebirth. For us... this is only our first step into the deep sea."
"When that guy wakes up and you've gone, what am I supposed to tell him?" Liuge asked the most important question.
"Just tell him the truth." Helen smiled faintly. "I think he'll understand... Tell him that if he hears the sirens singing, it means I'm there."
"I don't understand you people." The Underwater City Witch shook her head. "The Sea Monster Clan doesn't have all this nonsense... In the end, so-called love is nothing