  We demonstrate that scale-free patterns are observed in a spatially extended
stochastic system whose deterministic part undergoes a saddle-node bifurcation.
Remarkably, the scale-free patterns appear only at a particular time in
relaxation processes from a spatially homogeneous initial condition. We
characterize the scale-free nature in terms of the spatial configuration of the
exiting time from a marginal saddle where the pair annihilation of a saddle and
a node occurs at the bifurcation point. Critical exponents associated with the
scale-free patterns are determined by numerical experiments.
