Everyone stood frozen in fear and shock, wondering what was going to happen to them next.
Jinni tried to control herself, forcing her shaking hands to stay steady. She wanted to save Kai and Sara no matter what.
She threw the dart it flew straight and landed just near the bullseye, hitting the safe zone. Nothing happened. Jinni sighed in relief.
Then Eli took his turn. His dart hit the right side of the board and instantly, one of the guards stepped forward and broke Kai's leg with a rod.
Kai screamed in pain, but no one could do anything.
Jinni, trembling, threw another dart this time it hit the bullseye perfectly. She gasped and smiled in relief. One hit done successfully. Everyone watching also felt a small moment of relief.
Eli threw again, but once more, the dart hit the right side. Another guard came forward, grabbed Kai's hand, and ripped off one of his nails.
Jinni couldn't bear to watch. Tears filled her eyes.
"Eli, please! Why are you making him suffer? If you can't hit the bullseye, at least throw in the safe zone!"
Eli shouted back, "I'm trying my best! I'm not doing this on purpose! It just keeps going to the right!"
Jinni cried, "I don't know what your purpose is! But if you can't hit the safe zone or bullseye, then I'll hit the danger zone and make Sara suffer instead!"
With anger in her heart, she threw another dart. It hit the bullseye again her second perfect hit. Only one more to go.
Eli focused deeply this time and finally hit the bullseye too. He let out a heavy sigh of relief, glancing at Jinni, who was watching him closely.
Then Jinni threw again but this time the dart missed and hit the upper danger zone.
Everyone froze. Two guards stepped forward, and before anyone could react, one grabbed Eli's head while the other stretched out his tongue and cut it off.
Gasps filled the air. No one had expected this.
Eli screamed or tried to his voice broken by pain, blood running from his mouth.
He cried out, "I'll kill you! I'll kill every one of you!"
The Masked Man spoke coldly, "Eli, continue the game. It's just tongue. You know what will happen if you stop."
Eli trembled with rage, glaring at Jinni.
"You did that on purpose, didn't you?! You wanted to make us suffer like Kai!"
Jinni shook her head desperately, "No, Eli! I didn't mean to! I was angry, yes, but I didn't do it on purpose!"
Eli screamed in fury and threw another dart and once again, it hit the upper side.
The guards moved without hesitation. One of them stepped toward Kai and cut off his leg.
Jinni screamed, "No! Don't do that! Please, don't make him suffer!"
Now everyone understood hitting the upper part of the board was the most dangerous zone, one that could lead to losing any part of the body.
Zoya whispered, "This match has just begun… we don't even know what's coming next."
Finn panicked, "No, no! I don't want to play this game! They're going to kill me!"
Ethan added, "Yeah, me too! We're the ones taking the punishment while everyone else just watches!"
Finn shouted, trembling, "Right! Why should we be the only ones to suffer?! If they want to kill me, then do it now!"