It was an exceedingly simple formation, and activating it was naturally just as simple.
But Alfred had still designed a special gesture for its activation, just as he had that night in Rojia City, when he carried a Peanut-Tube Radio, playing a melody and swaying gently along with the young master.
Observe, imitate, learn, understand. He did not hope to share the young master's thoughts, but at least he had to keep in step on the surface.
Alfred took half a step back and gave a half bow, swinging his right arm behind him and placing his left hand before his forehead to pinch the nonexistent brim of the hat he was not wearing today.
Then he raised his head slightly, revealing eyes that had already turned red.
"As you command, my young master."
Snap!
Alfred snapped his fingers.
The formation activated.
There were no dazzling colors, nor any so-called tremors. A small hole burst open in the center of the formation, like the pressure valve of a pressure cooker being blown off.
A wisp of black mist spurted from the hole, then gradually thickened. The little opening kept widening, like a breach dug into a dam.
Gradually, the breach filled the circle occupied by the formation. The black mist gushed as though from the mouth of a broad well, gathering into a sphere once it reached the space above-or, one might say, an enormous black mushroom that kept swelling.
The most frightening thing was that the factory roof could not block this contamination. It would pass through solid objects and expand as far as possible. It even possessed its own instincts: just as water flowed toward low ground, it would automatically extend toward crowds.
From the activation of the formation to the spread of the contamination, very little time