They decided that if he joined the crowd in a rousing cheer of “Death to the Atheists!” they would let him go.
He pointed out to the crowd and shouted “Death to the Atheists!”.
They were not amused.
They put him to death.
Reports of a dove springing from his chest when they put in the sword were, IMHO, an exaggeration. ;)
They always gave everyone a chance to escape death. That was part of the policy. It was far more effective a way to demoralize and defeat Christianity by threatening people into recanting than by actually killing them.
The scene where the martyr is given a half-dozen chances to escape death merely by renouncing Christ is standard. And it makes perfect sense from the standpoint of the persecutor.