The resolution of the Apocryph was, in the end, a simple solution. But only because of Sev’s disrespectful and callous attitude to the study of magic. Under his orders, traditions and ancient rituals were picked apart and tampered with in ways that would have once been taboo. Alchemical ingredients, somatic gestures and verbal commands were recorded and broken down to find what truly worked and why. Magic-capable prisoners were expended for aiding in particular roadblocks, and overzealous volunteers even risked their lives in furthering this monumental research.

Aided by their divine ruler and his small pantheon, it took little more than a year after Sev’s ascension for most of the world’s known magic to become a science instead of an art, with exact metric measurements for magical energies and components used. As a result, new treatises were released, usually with at least one of the Lalena sisters’ names on them. Magecraft became a highly structured curriculum,

With the basic concept revolving around the new measurement of magical energy called ‘mana’, along with its varying ‘flavors’, mages within the Nexus now knew the many ways to conjure a firebolt, and what was needed to empower or modify it. Or understand the required components to summon a raincloud, or accelerate plant growth.

The city of Rondel reformed itself to welcome the Nexus’ magical breakthrough, and within a month their magical academy had fully adapted its curriculum. The different schools of magic became more clearly defined with experts rising up to prominence in each subject. With the essentials now laid bare for everyone to work on, the mages now drove themselves on to further plumb the depths of magic. The goddess Curie often provided her aid in such endeavors, her gentle wisdom often leading to breakthroughs on paradoxes and enigmas encountered by her followers.

It would still take a long time before anyone could fathom divinity though, or at least the kind that Sev was wielding. An understanding of a separate plane of magic, the source of divine magic, was only just starting to be discovered, but due to needing Sev’s priesthood to aid in that field of research, progress would be far slower than any other magical subjects being studied.

Sev himself would not explain the inner workings of his divinity, keeping it as much a secret as he did the technological wonders of the Nexus. However, a few lucky mages were chosen to witness his powers as he finally was able to focus his attention on the matter of the Apocryph. Lelei, her sister, and her mentor were obviously among those lucky few.

“So, this mist of cold death is basically a result of dimensional friction,” Sev explained as he gestured down to the mist-filled canyon behind him, “in the same way slag and hammerscale are created when forging metals.” It was hard not to hear the god’s annoyance as he continued enlightening his small audience about the nature of planar multiverses.

“The problem as to why it’s only happening in this world, and not mine? Basically, this plane of existence has thinner walls of reality than the others I’ve seen so far - even the arachnid one. Thin enough to allow for Gates to form between realities without draining too much energy, but also thin enough for the Apocryph to leak through during such occasions.”

Sev frowned as he paused for a moment. “Whether it’s the fault of the old pantheon, or the ones before them, or if this plane of existence was naturally so weak… I’m not sure. Nor is it relevant for now, anyway.”

The archgod gave the gathered mages and goddesses a smile. “We’re here to ensure that the stuff stops leaking in and brings an end to this world. And to do that while maintaining the Gate open, the solution is to gently and ever so carefully nudge both worlds, both realities apart just enough that the only thing making contact is the Gate.” His lopsided grin told that it would not be an easy task. “Imagine taking two different lumps of clay, smashing them against each other, and then trying to cleanly separate them again, with only the smallest strand connecting them. That’s the level of bullshit I’ll have to deal with.”

With his briefing done, Sev gave a heavy sigh. “So, that’s what I have to do on a massive, magical scale. You’re either free to stay and watch paint dry, because it will take a long time, or you can return to whatever it was you were working on. I think I’ll be here the whole week, if I’m lucky.”

And with that, the head god of the Nexus turned to face the canyon, and then fell back into a chair that Piper brought up behind him. To Lelei and the other mages’ magical senses, they could feel the awesome power Sev emanated, a potent force that made the more sensitive mages flinch. Divine power seeped into the ground, the air and everything about him, and for a moment it seemed to be all that was going on.

It took some seconds before Lelei noticed it: it was a faint change in the ambient mana patterns, a pressure deformity in the flow of magic she had thought was natural until the pressure began to ever so slightly lift. She gasped along with the other mages who had noticed it (Lelei would take satisfaction that Arpeggio didn’t see it until it was pointed out to her, later), trying to fathom the sheer amount of power required to wield an entire world and shift it.

Then the young mage remembered that Sev was gently pulling apart two worlds, that his presence was split between this world and another, where he was likely enacting the same ritual.

None of the attending mages left the site, preferring to gawp at the mind-boggling feat happening so slowly before their eyes. They debated further on the points Sev had made, shared food over dining areas prepared nearby, and slept in cabins overlooking the canyon. Some tried to stay awake throughout the nights. None of them would waste the opportunity given to witness such a thing to its completion.

As Sev sat unmoving on both sides of the Gate and put his full attention to the great prying of worlds, his goddesses ran the Nexus, though few would notice it. The mages would see the deities’ incarnations drop by occasionally to check in on Sev, and maybe trade some banter with the mortals, but otherwise they had each other for company. There was one incident where a cloud of Sentinels briefly appeared in the sky, igniting a distraction of debates as to the reason for their sighting.

It took eight days before Sev opened his eyes and he stood up. Thankfully, it was late afternoon at the time and all the mages were there to witness the end of the great ritual. They watched the archgod stare out blankly for a few seconds before turning his gaze on them with a bright smile.

“And there we have it, parallel worlds running cleanly alongside each other. And like a midget holding hands with a giant as they twirl around in a ballroom, I’m going to use the other world, my home world, as a shield to knock off any incoming interdimensional collisions, considering the tougher shell there. It’d take some monitoring, but nothing too strenuous for me.”

Of course Lelei knew better than to take that as idle boasting. Sev had done what the gods before him had not or could not.

“Now, since that’s over with, I’ve got to go catch up on my backlog. You guys take care, and if you got any good thoughts about the whole planar issue, give Curie a prayer, alright?”

A new holiday would be observed by the Nexus to commemorate this feat, as well as to welcome back Sev’s eight-day long absence. The Great Reality Shift would become known as the day both worlds coexisted peacefully, as well as the start of the week-long orgy Sev indulged with his goddesses and demigods. In time, the holiday would also see the lucky mortals to participate in the orgy ascend as apostles, or demigods serving in his honor guard.