[Hijikata's heart is hammering in his chest after this near-death experience. This truly is worse than any battlefield he's stood on, even worse than the calamity that befell Prismatica which he experienced through an incident with time rifts back on that crystal world, because while that was about equally horrible in terms of death, destruction and noxious air at least it wasn't so grossly hot!! Everything here seems to be cooking, boiling or burning.]

Your chief?! How do I identify-- wait, no! This is a nightmare!! It's not really happening! You've got to wake up! Don't you recognise me? I don't belong here, right? It's because it's a dream!

[He ducks as a monstrous creature soars past above them. This is bad!! What's going to happen if they both die here?! Will that have repercussions in the real world?]