Kuro no Maou

as the Chivalric Order.

 

With two hundred and fifty of them, they certainly have the numbers, but to fight such a dangerous monster is too large a task for an army of apprentices and students.

「It would be impossible for even me to fight it while protecting everyone else –」

Nero can say this because he’s defeated a Rank 5 monster before.
But as if to deny his confident words –

GOAAAAAAAAAH!

Once more, the air is filled with the Greed-Gore’s deafening roar.

Its purple eyes are unmistakably fixed on the students standing on top of the hill.

It is declaring its intention to devour this “prey”, or perhaps it sees this group of people as a threat, and is trying to intimidate them.

The students’ experience fighting monsters varies from individual to individual, but they all interpret the Greed-Gore’s roar as such.
The members of the Rank 5 party Wing Road also have similar suspicions.

However, they are all proven wrong.

「What, the forest –」

As if answering the Greed-Gore’s call, the forests surrounding the hills begin to move.

It appears as if the trees of the forest have all started marching across the plains.
But there is no way that could happen, even in this world of magic.

Monsters are emerging from the forest to advance onto the hill.

The monsters that are well known around the Iskia Hills, the Centaurs and their Silent Sheep with black wool, appear.
Not only them, but there are also Slimes, Goblins, Orcs, Dagger Raptors, Windwolves*, Morjura – Every single monster that inhabits this area is here.

TLN*: The katakana for this is “ウィンドル/windoru”.
They are Rank 1 monsters with wolf-like bodies whose name has previously been translated as “Windwolves” and also as “Vindol” by different translators.
I’m going with Windwolves since they are wolves, after all.

 

「Oi oi, is this for real…」

Even Nero has a line of cold sweat running down his cheek as he opens his eyes in shock.

Monsters of different races, unlike humans, are unable to overcome their differences to work together.
They are truly wild creatures of nature.

So, what is this phenomenon occurring in front of their eyes?

The wolf-like Windwolves are being used as mounts by Goblins, whose green skin shares the same color as their fur.
A land dragon, normally known for pulling dragon carriages, is carrying a number of large Orcs as it stomps its way forward with its powerful four legs.

The Silent Sheep are normally just a source of food for the Centuars, but the Centaurs are using them like hunting dogs as they advance.
Running beside them are the fierce, boar-like Dortoths.

The monsters’ forward march shakes the ground, though not as the Greed-Gore did.
But not all of the monsters are approaching on the ground’s surface.

The leaves in the forest sway as if in a storm as countless more shadows of all sizes appear in the trees.

Monsters ranging from the size of sparrows to medium-sized monsters like Pegasuses and Harpies fly through the rain clouds.

Above this flock of monsters is a Salamander* with both wings spread out, as if it were the ruler of the sky.

TLN: Salamanders are land reptiles in the real world, and even in a fantasy setting, I’d assume that they’re some kind of land dragon.
But the Kanji below this term reads “Fire Dragon” and apparently it’s flying.
So in Kuro no Maou, Salamanders are flying, fiery dragons.

 

Seeing the various monsters pouring non-stop from the forest, Nero knows what the Greed-Gore’s roar was for.

It was an attack order to its own army.

「Retreat! All forces, retreat! We must fall back to the fortress!」

The order to retreat comes, and the students who are frozen in place by the sight of this overwhelming enemy army return to their senses.

「That’s Will’s voice, he’s making a good call for once!」

The Second Prince of Spada, Wilhart, who is in command of this group of three hundred students, continues his shouts of “Move back!”, ordering an immediate retreat – no, an evacuation.

In the next moment, he rings the bell that signals a retreat order, and the order reaches everyone in the group.

Nero praises Will’s judgment here, as the decision to order an immediate retreat is an excellent one for avoiding everyone’s doom.

The army of monsters overflowing from the forests has started moving to surround this hill.

If they remained unable to move out of fear any longer, they would definitely be swallowed up by this tsunami of monsters and be wiped out.

「Kai, Sharl, Safi, we’re the rear guard!」

「You got it!」

「Of course we are!」

「Affirmative.」

The members of Wing Road, led by Nero, are aware that they have the strongest combat capability out of everyone.
They answer immediately, and take up the role of the rear guard without hesitation.

As the wave of students retreats back down the hill, these four distinct, mounted individuals proudly turn their red mantles around as they remain in place.

As they look down and ready their weapons to challenge the army of monsters that are crawling towards the bottom of the hill –

「Wait, we’ll be the rear guard!」

One large, mounted person appears in front of them, standing in their way.

Sitting on a huge Bicorn like Kai’s, it is an Orc with a single-edged greatsword on his back.

His burly head has a single horn and also a large lump, which has caused unfortunate rumors about how he took a punch from some newcomer adventurer student.

He is the Orc teacher in charge of the swordsmanship part of the adventurers’ course, participating in this open-field exercise to observe the students.

「Oi, what are you saying, it would definitely be better if we –」

「No! No matter how strong you act, you’re just students.
The more dangerous roles should be taken up by us teachers.」

The current emergency situation is enough to overturn the rule that teachers are not to participate actively in the open-field exercise, and there is no time to argue.

And since they have fallen into such a critical situation, the ones who must go head first into certain death – as their guardian, as adults, and as educators – are the teachers.

「There’s no time to argue, you guys have to be the vanguard and break through the monsters’ surround!」

As the Orc orders this battle formation, his eyes are full of determination and resolution to face battle like a true warrior of Spada.

It is more than clear that there is nothing more to be said.

If Wing Road goes to the front line as the vanguard, even if the monsters block their path, they can definitely break through.
No matter how strong the rear guard is, there is no point if the path ahead remains blocked.

「Tch, there’s no other choice.」

Nero pulls the reins in his hands and the Unicorn quickly turns around, and the others follow him.

As Nero’s red eyes turn back to look one last time, he sees the backs of the teachers, ready to defend the students to the death.
In front of them, he can see the monsters advancing.

「A black Greed-Gore…」

The Greed-Gore simply watches calmly, leaving the attack to its army of monsters.

It is an Earth Dragon that is supposed avariciously devour its prey, but it seems to Nero that its eyes have a sadistic look as it plays around with its food.

「I don’t like that thing’s huge head.
I’ll make sure to cut it off.」

Nero swears to defeat the Greed-Gore, the general of this monster army.
But right now, he must go forward to cut a retreat path, so he spurs his Unicorn onward.