The Angel's Tears

is the 148th episode of the Fairy Tail anime. It first aired on September 15, 2012.

As Lucy is slowly being sucked within the Infinity Clock, Imitatia faces off against Natsu, Elfman and Coco. In addition, every other member of Fairy Tail starts working to stop the Infinity Clock from bringing forth chaos and to find the runaway Kinana. Erza and Cobra continue their match, whilst Gray and Dan Straight face off against Angel, whose self-titled Magic proves to be more dangerous for her than it is for her opponents.

Summary
Natsu, Elfman and Coco try to get to Lucy, whose body is still being absorbed by the Infinity Clock, but Imitatia refuses to let them go near her. She says that she'll protect Lucy at all costs, and that it's best for Natsu and the others to go, as this way, their lives will be spared. Natsu says that he and Elfman should fight Imitatia while Coco rescues Lucy.

In the Fairy Tail building, Makarov drives off the powers of Real Nightmare so that it doesn't affect anyone in the guild. The rest of the guild members are either researching the Infinity Clock with Jean-Luc Neville and the Archeology Society or otherwise searching for Kinana. In the meantime, Macao and Wakaba discuss the responsibilities of each of their guildmates. During their conversation, Wakaba mentions how he hasn't seen Romeo lately, though Macao says it's because he's growing up. As they talk, Romeo is outside looking at the Infinity Clock, telling Natsu and Lucy to wait for him.

As Coco unsuccessfully tries rescuing Lucy, Natsu and Elfman begin their battle against Imitatia, however, the Dark Mage easily maneuvers through their attacks, giving them difficulty. She states that pain and "silly" emotions cannot affect her in any way, but is challenged in this belief by Natsu, who claims that despite one's confidence, a person still has a bright look in their eyes; however, Imitatia's show nothing more than hesitance. Imitatia quickly defends herself about this remark. Subsequently, she resumes her battle against the two Fairy Tail Mages, who are then accompanied in the fight by Coco.

Happy and Pantherlily are unsuccessful in locating Lucy. This upsets Happy as he worries about what Samuel plans to do with her. They have a discussion about Samuel's motives, which are tied to the similar goals of Legion Corps. Simultaneously, Samuel scales the Infinity Clock in his Battle Form, thinking back to what he plans to do now for the sake of others.

Jean-Luc Neville exclaims that he, along with Levy and Freed, have deciphered the secret of Real Nightmare. He explains that the only way they can stop it is by removing the carved seals on the Infinity Clock, which will negate the owners rights to using such an artifact. Levy, Macao and Wakaba are impressed by the accuracy found in Happy's theory. Makarov speaks up, saying that there are now only four members of the Reborn Oración Seis left for them to defeat.

Erza starts her fight against Cobra, whose Sound Magic remains effective against the S-Class Mage. Throughout their battle, Erza speaks of how she can hear the voices of her friends, and that their voices are what drives her forward to win. Cobra describes her words as "grating" and pushes their fight to outside the Clock. Out in the open, Erza then asks Cobra why he wants to bring despair to people in the same way that he felt while in the Tower of Heaven. He responds that he could care less, though adds that he has no friends, while she and various others are surrounded by them. Erza mocks him for his envy and resumes their battle.

Lucy's body is finally absorbed whole by the Infinity Clock. She sinks down into the depths of the Clock.

Warren, Laki, Wendy and Carla are informed of Jean-Luc's news and discuss it briefly. As they do, Wendy says she suddenly feels a turmoil within the sky. Carla theorizes that it's because the effects of Real Nightmare are beginning to weaken. Wendy's intuition tells her, however, that the Infinity Clock is actually struggling to stay active.

Meanwhile, Gray begins his rematch battle against Angel who summons Shamsiel again. Gray is finally able to defeat the angel with Ice-Make: Death Scythe and destroy the gold coins used to summon him; this effects Angel, causing her to struggle and collapse. Gray goes towards Angel and concludes that Shamsiel most likely went back to heaven. Hearing this, Angel asks him to kill her with his scythe so that she can finally fade into the sky like a true angel. However, he refuses to. Angry, Angel summons Barakiel to fight him. They are soon accompanied with the arrival of Dan Straight, who not only is able to save Gray from Barakiel's hands, but also defeat the angel.

Now enraged, Angel summons Raguel with 100 Magical Golden Coins. The powerful angel attacks Dan with a single attack that, in addition to destroying his armor, deals moderate injuries to his body. Angel follows with a speech about her dreams to become an actual angel. She speaks happily about how she will finally be rid of her "sin" of being born human once she morphs into an angel. Angel continues saying that any sacrifice needed to achieve her goal is perfectly fine, even if it shortens her own life, as in the case of using Angel Magic. In addition, the more she uses Angel Magic, the more she can see "filth" in the world that she currently lives in.

Hearing her words infuriates Gray, and he proceeds to tell her that Dan, as well as his guildmates, are all humans continuously living with all their might. He asks if she's lived long enough to actually be able to give it all up before exclaiming that she is just rambling on about becoming an angel. Angel is shocked that he is mocking her wishes. Her body, as well as Raguel's, start cracking and breaking; seeing this surprises Gray. She attacks him and tells a now-deformed Raguel to annihilate the Mage. Gray tells the now irrational Angel that she's being absorbed by her own Magic, and that if she continues her acts, eventually the very angel she summoned will kill her.

Angel suddenly realizes how different Raguel appears but denies Gray's words, while slowly, the two become swallowed by the angel. However, as she finally starts to see truth in Gray's words, Angel shouts out her will to live. At this instance, Dan pulls himself back to the battlefield and pierces Angel with Habaraki. This reduces the core of her power's limit and ultimately returns the years of her life that she sacrificed. At the same time, Gray finally defeats Raguel. Not only is Angel saved, but in the end, she has lost her fight.

Battles & Events

 * Natsu Dragneel, Elfman Strauss, Coco (Earth Land) & Romeo Conbolt vs. Imitatia (started)
 * Erza Scarlet vs. Cobra (started)
 * Gray Fullbuster & Dan Straight vs. Angel (started and concluded)

Magic used

 * Beast Soul (ビーストソウル Bīsuto Sōru)
 * Athletic Magic
 * Sound Magic
 * Summoned Shamsiel
 * Summoned Barakiel
 * Summoned Raguel
 * Athletic Magic
 * Sound Magic
 * Summoned Shamsiel
 * Summoned Barakiel
 * Summoned Raguel
 * Summoned Shamsiel
 * Summoned Barakiel
 * Summoned Raguel
 * Summoned Shamsiel
 * Summoned Barakiel
 * Summoned Raguel
 * Summoned Raguel

Spells used

 * Lightning Cyclotron
 * Shamsiel
 * Ice-Make: Ice Dummy
 * Ice-Make: Fishnet
 * Barakiel
 * Raguel
 * Ice-Make: Ice Dummy
 * Ice-Make: Fishnet
 * Barakiel
 * Raguel
 * Ice-Make: Fishnet
 * Barakiel
 * Raguel

Abilities used

 * Hand-to-Hand Combat
 * Battle Mode Shift (戦闘モードシフト Sentō Mōdo Shifuto)
 * Enhanced Hearing
 * Flight

Weapons used

 * Flower Shield
 * Flower Sword
 * Swords
 * Ricochet
 * Habaraki
 * Habaraki

Items used

 * Gold Coins