Luckily his armor was still intact along his face and some of the torso, and because the attack covered such a wide area it wasn't able to penetrate into the hole in the torso. This left him rattled but not killed as what would happen to an unarmored person struck by a mech, giving the added benefit of cushioning some of the force like had happened when he fell from great heights. As he was shoved backwards against the leg he quickly gathered his wits about him enough to grasp onto it for dear life like his original plan was.

He angled the lava flowing out of his left palm inward towards the knee that was right next to his face, hoping to damage the parts while also solidifying it to increase it's cutting power and durability. Not that he had a choice to leave it liquid or not, given his lack of control over this ability, but either way he assumed would be able to do the damage he was looking for.