"The fight's starting."
High up on the second level of the Primordial Sun Cathedral, Murphy was searching as fast as he could for the legendary "Radiant Artifact" when he heard Triss speak to him:
"The concentration of solar psionic energy is skyrocketing. It's practically roasting us over a fire. It seems Lord Paphy has resolved to wash away the shame of the Sun Church's betrayal today with his own death. Sigh, there's just no reasoning with these religious fanatics."
"Perhaps you could call his devotion a 'sacrifice'?"
Murphy replied:
"Even if we vampires of the midnight don't praise that sort of virtue, there's no need to mock him like that, is there?"
"I'm only telling it like it is. His sacrifice is meaningless beyond proving something to himself."
Triss spoke telepathically:
"Perhaps Paphy's choice is an act of self-destruction born of despair. That old priest clearly knows the cruel truth. I think you've seen it too: when Berdinos committed his act of rebellion, the radiance blessing him from Parom hadn't dimmed in the slightest.
"Do you know what that means?"
"That astral demigod sun beetle also longs to ascend to godhood. The shift in faith within the Sun Church may have begun with that desire quietly taking root inside it."
Murphy had dealt with gods, divine power, and faith plenty of times. He knew these things inside out. While searching among the countless sacred relics on display, as if in a museum, he answered while keeping half his attention on the conversation:
"In the Sangha people's system of belief, the Creator is always the foundation of all things. Even Sangha people who follow the path of the Sun praise the Creator's name before they sing of the Sun Scarab.
"A vast amount of faith is directed toward the Creator, who