The Triangle's Restrictions

A new minion wave was incoming, led by the enemy's triangle of Renegade, StormMonster, and Laplace. Yuel, Lars, and Luke advanced to the frontline to counter the offense, but they refused to step too far out of the Golem's area.

They had to stop as many minions as possible from reaching the Golem area, but they had no intention of starting a full-blown fight. They couldn't allow themselves to overextend, not against the "Bermuda Triangle".

"Welp, they kinda came to fight us, but they kinda didn't." Nash made a face. The enemy did come out of the Golem's range to contest the lane, but they did it ever so slightly. "Do I jump them, or...?"

"Nah, I wouldn't risk it," Jaiden dismissed the idea.

The enemy took the middle ground between contesting the lane and playing it safe. They didn't fully stay in the Golem's area, but neither did they extend far enough to get easily wrecked. What a smartass approach.

"I say we focus the minions and push them back," Jaiden suggested. "What do you think, Rio?"

"Sounds good," Rio agreed.

"Okay, let's do that then." Jaiden nodded.

Nash, the frontliner, swept his lance across the enemy swordsmen. Meanwhile, Jaiden and Rio provided support fire from afar.

The enemy's frontline collapsed in no time. Next, the attack moved on to target the backline, the bowmen.

At the same time, the enemy cleared only two swordsmen out of three. LegendaryMemer didn't charge in to attack, probably in fear of overextending. Therefore, only Gunz and Chessmaster actively contributed to the farming. The Knight served merely as a bodyguard. He was there to discourage Jaiden's group from recklessly charging in, but nothing more than that.

Little did he know that, under this seemingly normal defense operation, was hatching a much larger ploy.

"Okay, I got enough cash," Lars announced. "I'mma go now."

"Okay, we're falling back," Yuel announced.

"Roger." Luke backpedaled away from the enemy, with his sights still locked on them just in case. This was the slower way to retreat but it was more intimidating. [We ain't running away. We're just tactically retreating. I still got my eyes on ya all. Fear me, yo!]

After retreating far enough, Lars turned around and dashed full speed ahead. He returned to base, purchased Teleport, and warped to the Checkpoint Ward in Bot.

Meanwhile, Yuel and Luke barricaded themselves at the Golem and continued farming the minions with the help of the Golem's AoE attacks.

"Damn, it ain't easy to push a Golem during mid-game, huh," Nash ranted.

The Golem's AoE attacks were devastating. That big boi tossed huge boulders like they were pebbles. Their AoE wasn't that big, but they still hit at least two minions at once, sometimes even three. Shit was cheap as heck.

Before long, the invading squad vanished without a trace. It was time to retreat.

"Let's fall back before Gunz returns," Jaiden said.

"Gotcha." Nash backpedaled from the danger zone.

They've only reduced the Golem's HP by 10% thanks to Jaiden concentrating his fire on it. They still had a long way to go before they conquer Mid.

Fortunately, the next minion wave was already underway. With the enemy's Mid Turret destroyed, the minions marched across the lane without slowing down or receiving any damage, all the way to the Golem. Such was the tremendous benefit of taking down Turrets. It allowed the Invincible Triangle to oppress their opponents nonstop on lane.

Before long, Jaiden and Co. will be able to renew their offense in full throttle. Slowly but surely, they'll pressure Stratus into submission. After all, they were the Invincible Triangle! None could put a stop to their progress, not even Gunz!

"Gotta say, Gunz is sure taking his sweet time to return," Jaiden pointed out. "You think there's a chance he rotated somewhere?"

"Ah, look at Bot!" Rio exclaimed. "He's split-pushing."

"Whoa!?" Nash exclaimed. "When did he get all the way over there!?"

"That was fast." Jaiden frowned. "Like, way too fast. He couldn't have traveled there."

"Teleport," Rio said after checking Gunz's items.

"Dang, when did they even have a chance to place a Checkpoint Ward!?" Jaiden felt sweat forming on his forehead. This wasn't how he expected things to go!

The trio was supposed to keep pressuring Stratus in Mid until the defense cracks and the Golem falls. It should've gone exactly like in the last two games, but Stratus adapted.

[Heh, that's good. It won't be any fun if it's too easy.] Jaiden smiled dangerously. [Okay, so how do we answer here? Mid-game Gunslinger can split-push hard. Gunz gonna take Bot if we don't do anything about it.]

"Who cares?" Nash shrugged. "A new wave is here, so let's push! They have less defenders now, so let's push the heck outta them!"

"Yeah, you're probably right." Jaiden reluctantly agreed.

Until now, Gunz was the most dangerous defender from the enemy side. Not because his defense was godlike or anything, but because his offense was so swift and overwhelming. This guy could turn the tables on the attacker in a blink of an eye and get a kill. His mere presence on the defense put tremendous pressure on the attackers.

But, this dangerous fellow wasn't here anymore. It'll be that much easier to push the Golem now.

"Ignore the split-push for now," Raymond said the final word. "Keep pushing Mid and take the Golem."