I'm morbidly fascinated by the little details. He fully undressed and placed his clothes in a pile, and with toes rigidly pointed is going to town on the hole in the rock while a line of people look on waiting for their turn.
I'm thinking it wasn't just a matter of time, actually.
I think, since they were next in line to try to remove the sword, that it was spur of the moment when they guy in front of him successfully pulled it out