Fissures? If the Undead Emperors had never been solid to begin with, why would there be any fissures between them?
Any mage would forever search for the endless truth. Archmage-level existences would pay a certain amount of respect to and treat each other with some friendliness since they would all be comrades searching for their own truth. They would only pay superficial respect to the Gods, out of deference only to the Gods' tremendous power and in order to avoid trouble.
A pure mage would never truly lower their head to any powerful existence. A powerful enemy would only pique a mage's interest and curiosity, making the mage want to analyze, dissect, and learn from the enemy's power, and then become even stronger than their enemy.