[i]As the ranger finished tending to his vision, he'd be able to see that... the imaginary field was devoid of life. Nowhere could the monster be seen, not even in the distance. How could it have...[/i]

[b]*Because it wasn't in front of him*[/b]

[i]Whilst he had been preoccupied with escaping to a branch and tending to his eyes, it would have slithered back into the treeline, eating up the remainder of its left arm to replenish its right so that it could be once more in fair enough shape to fight. As it did so, with incredible speed and silence it'd have attempted to sneak up behind Crual. The tricky bastard had figured out that though the ranger could see anything in front of him, he couldn't look backwards through his skull. Even if it thought that it had blinded him, it still took no chances. Depending on how quickly the ranger recovered, he might notice the monster as it was in the midst of flanking him, or perhaps he wouldn't realize where it had gone until he felt an icy sense of impending death welling up directly behind him. The Magna Pater did not screw around.[/i]