[Once more Hijikata observes the attack. Everything about Ayato's fighting style is elegant somehow, like a water ballet... it suits him, he thinks. The lava creatures don't enjoy the water at all - they start to smoke a whole lot, dark fumes rising up into the sky. Unable to free themselves from the soggy ground, they keep fireballs coming at the two men, but Hijilata effortlessly takes care of them.]

They should be all cooled out and extinguished before long, then we can go break their cores. You know, I really didn't expect to take the defensive role in this!

[Or in anything, really. It feels very strange to be letting Ayato handle all the attacks, but Hijikata is sure that applying any kind of fire magic to the monsters would only fuel rather than harm them.]