What is the significance of Florence's death in "Bless Me, Ultima"?

When Florence died, "everything (Tony) believed in was destroyed" (Veintidos).

Florence did not believe in God, and according to the Catholic faith would have been condemned to burn in hell for all eternity.  He was sincere in his unbelief, however; an orphan whose "sisters (were) whores", Florence could not understand how a God who was "supposed to know everything" could allow there to be so much evil in the world (Diecisiete).  Tony, despite his own faith, had no answers for Florence, and had in fact been struggling with the same doubts himself; when the other children wanted Tony, acting as the priest, to punish Florence for his unbelief and audacity in declaring that he had no sin, Tony refused and granted forgiveness instead (Dieciocho).  Despite his uncertainties, Tony was not ready to give up on the Church as had his friend, but when Florence died, Tony was overwhelmed with the emptiness of a seemingly senseless universe of violence and death.  Florence's death made Tony consider the possiblity that the God of religion as represented by the Church, of myth as represented by the Golden Carp, and of magic as personified by Ultima, did not exist, and that all that remained was nothingness (Veintidos).