Congratulations on your first murder attempt: A future chapter of 'My Demonic Academia'

Zellmur teleported into Izuku’s room, the green haired boy only jumping a little bit at the interruption.

“Hey Zellmur,” the boy murmured, looking heavily conflicted. “Did, uhm, Momo send you?”

Zellmur eyed the boy for a moment, seeing the guilt in his eyes, but also the stubbornness.

“Eh, not quite.” Zellmur replied honestly. “Heard what happened and wanted to come myself.”

All true. He had heard the boy had nearly gotten himself killed (twice) by some kook with a slime quirk. What was worse, was that the second time it had been to needlessly save his childhood nemesis.

The little princess had come to lecture the boy, words had been said, the princess returning upset.

Now, people often have misconceptions about demons of sloth. That getting them to do anything is impossible, they did the bare minimum, they cut corners…

Granted, those misconceptions existed because the majority of sloth demons were exactly that, but that's besides the point.

The actual point was that true sloth demons knew they needed to figure out how to maximize their lazing around time while minimizing their current workload.

It was advanced sloth tactics.

And right now, he knew he’d be freeing up future time by going on the initiative and getting Izuku to see reason right now.

The boy was obviously expecting a lecture. Had probably been subjected to several already. But he had that determined look in his eye that said he’d bear through whatever Zellmur had to say without changing his mind no matter how bad he’d feel about it.

Heh.

Thing was, though the boy had spent years being around demons - was even pretty knowledgeable of them - he’d never been subjected to a demon truly trying to tempt him.

And demons were great at convincing people to change their point of view.

“I heard what happened earlier today boy, and I wanted to congratulate you!” Zellmur said brusquely, clapping the boy on the back.

Izuku was clearly thrown for a loop, his expression turning confused. “C-congratulate me?” He asked slowly.

“Hmph. I didn’t think you had it in you, especially with that Bakugou kid.” Zellmur continued.

“Y-you - Zellmur, you heard what I did, r-right?” Izuku checked.

“Course I did.” He immediately replied, bringing out a box and presenting it to the boy. “I even got ya a present to commemorate the occasion.”

Izuku carefully took the box, glancing between it and Zellmur several times before carefully opening it.

Izuku’s face immediately paled as he saw the contents.

“Z-Zellmur!” He yelped, throwing the box on the bed. “W-why are you giving me a knife?!”

“I told ya, it’s a gift… To commemorate the occasion of your first murder attempt.” Zellmur smiled, showing all his teeth.

Izuku gaped at him, mouth opening and closing several times without making any noise, his expression horrified.

See, just a moment ago, Izuku had been determined and closed off, fully prepared to weather any lecture without absorbing it, content in believing he did right.

Now, he was confused and off-balance, more than ready to ask questions and listen just to understand what Zellmur was going on about.

“Now, the beauty of this dagger is that it’s made from hellfire ash.” Zellmur continued nonchalantly, doing his best to increase Izuku’s discomfort. “Stabbing somebody with this bad boy doesn’t damage the body, but it’ll disintegrate upon use, filtering into the soul. Give it, oh, two days, and it’ll weaken the connection between soul and body, eventually completely disconnecting the two. The body will seem like it’s in a coma, but the spirit will be long gone. Much better for your next murder than throwing yourself in mortal peril. Though that does provide a bit of an alibi…”

“Wha, n-next?! I-I’m not going to kill anybody Zellmur!” Izuku shrieked in horror.

Zellmur frowned, “Hey now, I know this latest one failed, but that’s no reason to just give up. What happened to that go-getter attitude of yours?”

“That wasn’t a murder attempt!” Izuku shouted, and Zellmur was glad he put a dome of silence around the room. This conversation needed to run its course to have the proper effect.

“Sure, and that’s what you’re going to tell the police and any heroes that ask.” He replied with a wink. “But see, I know you’re smarter than that.”

Now Izuku was a mix of horrified and confused. “What do you mean?”

“C’mon, it was a classic hostage situation, wasn’t it?” Zellmur sat down in the chair and leaned back casually. “One guy outnumbered, holding a kid hostage to keep the other guys back. They can’t go in because he’ll kill the kid if they do, but he can’t kill the kid or else the only reason they’re standing back goes away.” He sniffed. “It’s every hero's nightmare kid.”

He should know. Some demons made a killing off of that sort of thing.

“B-but Kacchan was suffocating!” Izuku protested.

“Eh, probably.” Zellmur shrugged. “From what you said about him, he wouldn't make a good hostage. Problematic. I’d knock him out as well. Unconscious people make much better hostages. Suffocation is a bit of a rough way to do it, but it’ll do the job. Remember, if the kid dies, the heroes go in with a vengeance and the kook gets another murder on his rap sheet.”

Sure, initially the slime was probably going to kill the brat and take him over, but that would change when said brat fought and attracted the heroes. Having failed at stealth, he would be forced to negotiate with a hostage.

“After all,” he continued, “if the Slime was really going to kill the kid, there were much faster or efficient ways to do it. If he’s strong enough to restrain limbs, he’s strong enough to force his way down throats. Or he could’ve forced his way up the sinuses or ears and expanded. You said he could compress and expand himself, right?”

Izuku went pallid at the descriptions, nodding mechanically as the gruesome images no doubt went through his mind.

“B-but they weren’t negotiating!” He quickly protested. “T-they were just complaining how they didn’t have anybody with a quirk that could counter slime!”

“Yeah, ‘cause they were still in the intimidation phase.” Zellmur explained ‘patiently’. “The villain’s gotta show he means business so the heroes don’t get any bright ideas. If they had an ability that could counter slime, they wouldn’t have to worry about the hostage as much. But they didn’t have one. So they were all panicked and worried.”

Izuku was actively shivering now. “B-but how, uh, why do you keep saying it was a murder attempt?!”

Zellmur rolled his eyes. “C’mon kid, I ain’t dumb. Us demons wrote the book on plots. Come to think of it, I might loan it to you later.” He snickered. “Anyways, with no interference, both sides would have postured a bunch, and eventually the heroes would have allowed the villain to go free in return for the kid. The villain would then probably throw the unconscious kid in a dangerous situation to get the hero's attention away from him, maybe throw him in a burning building or something, and then he’d run away. Bakugou is then hurt, but safe, and the villain is free and clear.”

Zellmur spun around and pointed a finger at Izuku, “but then you run up. You got a few moments of surprise on your side, but the heroes still can’t go in because the villain now has not one hostage, but two. But the villain’s got a handful with Bakugou. What better option is there but to kill the problematic hostage and take the new one?”

The best kind of manipulation lay not in lies, but in telling the truth a certain way.

Everything he said was truth up until that last part. And even that wasn’t a lie. The Slime guy might have been strong enough to take both boys hostage. Or he might have just panicked and killed Izuku. Or he might have thrown Bakugou aside without killing him, taking Izuku hostage.

When somebody panicked or became cornered, they became unpredictable. Which is why hostage situations were downright terrifying. You can do everything right, and the other side can still get spooked and ruin everything. Before you knew it, you had casualties and regrets.

The description Zellmur gave Izuku was one potential path. But it was the path that would hit him the hardest.

And hit him hard it did. Izuku was shaking like a leaf, eyes watering at the implications Zellmur laid out.

“I-I… that isn’t… I couldn’t just…” he was almost hyperventilating. “He didn’t die!”

Zellmur shrugged. “I mean, yeah, that’s why it was a murder ‘attempt’. Only reason why you failed was because some hero that wasn’t supposed to be there stepped up. You can’t let one thing of bad luck stop ya before you get started.”

“But I was trying to help Kacchan!” Izuku cried out desperately, as if to convince Zellmur.

Zellmur just gave a frown. “By doing what?”

“J-just because I don’t have a quirk -“ Izuku began, but cut off when Zellmur hit the back of his head.

“Kid, you’re gonna make me angry. When have I ever cared about that crap? I don’t care if you don’t have elongating fingers or detachable tongues or whatever crap you can think of.” He narrowed his eyes, his voice becoming more stern. “The simple fact is, if you weren’t attempting murder, then you won because of luck. Not because you were smarter, more prepared, stronger, faster, more intuitive, talented, better equipped, more determined, or any other crappy reason you can think of. Bakugou survived your actions because you got lucky. And a win based on luck isn’t something to be proud of.”

Zellmur didn’t mind that Izuku wanted to be a hero. Zellmur had personally helped out tons of heroes in his time (they asked for strength, knowledge, or magic, and he was more than happy to provide... For the low low price of their soul). But if Izuku died, his soul would go to heaven, and then little Momo would be sad.

Oh, the lawyers between heaven and hell could argue the point. Izuku had been consorting with demons for years after all. But even after all this time the kid’s soul was still pure, so Zellmur knew who’d lose that battle.

So if Izuku wanted to be a hero, more power to him. But Zellmur would do his part to make sure Izuku survived. If it took traumatizing the kid right now to do so, then so be it.

Zellmur stood up and stretched. “Anywho, I’ve stayed too long as it is. Gotta go back before the little princess misses me. Enjoy the momento, and don’t get caught, ya hear?”

Before Izuku could respond (if he could even respond) Zellmur teleported out and back to Pride.

He’d give it a day before mentioning to Momo that the boy was feeling down. They’d be able to make up after that.

He let out an explosive sigh.

This was why he’d never have kids. Too much drama.