A/N: To support me, pls donate and subscribe
Paypal: bit.ly/kaioshinpaypal
Patreon: patreon.com/KAIOSHIN
YouTube channel: Kaioshin Theorizer
youtube.com/@kaioshintheoriesandanalysi7427
______________________________________________
The Situation of the Angels After the Great War in High School DxD
Consequences of the Great War for the Angels
The Great War between Angels, Devils, and Fallen Angels was devastating for the celestial side. In the conflict, God (the God of the Bible) ended up dead, along with a large portion of the angelic army. It is estimated that more than two-thirds of the Angels were lost, either falling from grace or dying in battle, leaving Heaven drastically weakened. Canon sources describe the war as resulting in a "massive loss of main forces" for all factions, and in the Angels' case, this included their supreme leader and countless celestial servants. Without God, no new pure Angel could be created, as only He held that power of creation. Thus, at the end of the war, Heaven found itself with a reduced celestial quorum and no means to replenish its losses through traditional means. The once-numerous winged servants were now a fraction of their former glory, with many who didn't perish having succumbed to the Fall (becoming Fallen Angels) due to despair or personal transgressions.
This angelic decimation deeply impacted divine order. The absence of God created an unprecedented power vacuum. The surviving Angels – from the highest Seraphim to common warriors – had to cope with the loss of their Creator and mentor amid a tense truce with Devils and the Fallen. Heaven remained operational, but barely. Most of the remaining Angels retreated to the upper celestial spheres, trying to maintain Paradise's basic functions with severely limited divine (or "human") resources. In short, the post-war period left the heavenly army in ruins, forcing them into a defensive and cautious stance for centuries to avoid any new conflicts that might drive them into extinction.
Heaven's Structure and the Celestial System Without God
Heaven in High School DxD is organized into multiple levels (known as the Seven Celestial Colonies), where God once occupied the highest throne. With His death, Heaven's administrative structure had to be reorganized. The Four Great Seraphim – Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and Uriel – jointly took over the maintenance of the Celestial System, the divine machinery created by God to govern sacred laws. This system encompasses everything from responding to the prayers of the faithful on Earth to generating miracles and applying holy restrictions (e.g., the harmful effects of sanctified objects on demons). However, without God's omnipotent hand guiding it, the system became fragile and prone to subtle failures.
A critical point is that Heaven's power now heavily depends on the faith of believing humans. The Angels' pre-war structures and precepts are upheld by the energy of faith collected from prayers and beliefs of God's followers. Thus, God's death was kept an absolute secret – if humanity were to lose faith upon discovering the absence of their Lord, Heaven's power and the very divine system could collapse from lack of spiritual "fuel." In practical terms, Michael and the archangels continued answering prayers and maintaining miracles as if God were still present, deceiving the mortal world to preserve celestial stability.
Despite succeeding in keeping up appearances, the Celestial System exhibited limitations and loopholes. One direct consequence of God's absence was the inability to generate new angels in the traditional manner – the divine "source code" for creating angels was now inaccessible. Furthermore, strict rules were maintained: angels who sinned or harbored impure thoughts would immediately "fall," becoming Fallen Angels. This meant that living Angels had to follow an extreme code of purity to avoid further losses. For instance, an Angel wishing to engage in a romantic or carnal relationship would have to undergo a lengthy purification ritual with their partner inside a special holy barrier – even then, neither could harbor possessive or lustful desires during the act, or they would fall from grace. This extreme rigidity shows how inflexible and vulnerable the system became: the slightest corruption or "bug" in an angel's behavior could trigger their fall, turning another shooting star away from Paradise.
There were even incidents of internal corruption exploiting system loopholes. At one point (Volume 12 of the light novel), it was revealed that traitorous angels were collaborating with the Chaos Brigade – and ironically, they managed to do so without falling immediately, thanks to a breach in Heaven's moral safeguards. These high-ranking angels exploited this loophole and only experienced their Fall when they physically defected to join the enemy faction. This alarming incident revealed that the Celestial System, lacking updates since the era of God, had security flaws that could be exploited, undermining both the hierarchical structure and trust within Heaven. In essence, post-war Heaven functions like a divine machine in "contingency mode" – still running and answering prayers, but with some functions damaged or deactivated, requiring utmost caution from its administrators to avoid a systemic collapse or widespread corruption.
Current Leadership: Michael and the Post-War Challenges
After God's death, Michael – the most prominent archangel and God's "right hand" – assumed leadership over the Angels and Seraphim. He inherited not only the political command of Heaven but also the responsibility of overseeing the Celestial System, effectively becoming the chief operator of divine law. This transition was natural, as Michael was one of the first and most powerful Angels ever created, but the burden upon him was immense. Without God's infinite power, Michael couldn't control the system with the same perfection, and thus had to improvise to keep divine order running. Among his priorities were the rebuilding of lost forces (especially destroyed Seraphim) and guiding the Church on Earth according to God's teachings so that mortals would never lose their faith.
Michael proved to be a wise and selfless leader. For example, he made painful decisions for the greater good, such as the excommunication of Asia Argento and Xenovia Quarta from the Church when there was a risk they might discover (and accidentally reveal) the truth about God's death. This extreme measure demonstrated Michael's resolve to protect the divine secret and humanity's faith at all costs, even if it meant unjustly punishing loyal servants. Michael himself carries a sorrowful demeanor in the anime – perhaps a reflection of the melancholy of an archangel silently bearing the burden of replacing an absent Heavenly Father.
To address the critical challenge of replenishing the decimated angelic army, Michael spearheaded the implementation of an innovative solution: the Brave Saints System. Developed after the peace treaty between the Three Factions, this system was created by Heaven's engineers with technological cooperation from Grigori (the Fallen Angels) and inspired by the Devils' Evil Pieces system. Essentially, these are celestial cards (a deck of 13 cards for each Seraph) that allow strong-faith humans to be reincarnated as new Angels. By adopting this method, Michael was able to "recruit" worthy human souls into Heaven's ranks, similar to how Devils increase their numbers by turning humans into demon servants. With the Brave Saints, Michael became the King of Spades in his deck, while his reincarnated Angels occupy roles such as Ace, Queen, Jack, etc., resembling a playing card court. This effort symbolizes an unprecedented divine restructuring, breaking millennia-old traditions to ensure Heaven doesn't perish through stagnation.
Despite these advancements, Michael faced (and still faces) many challenges to maintaining divine order. He must balance diplomacy and firmness: on one hand, cooperating with leaders of the Devils and Fallen in alliances; on the other, upholding angelic doctrine and morals to prevent his subordinates from falling. The fragile peace demands that Michael act as a statesman – seen in the Kuoh Treaty, where he, Azazel (leader of the Fallen), and Sirzechs (Devil leader) negotiated an end to hostilities. Internally, Michael also deals with his angels' grief and motivation: many still mourn God's absence and need spiritual guidance. Michael became their guide and mentor, preserving divine teachings and ensuring the "business of salvation" continues uninterrupted. Under his leadership, projects such as the integration of Irina Shidou (a former human exorcist, now a reincarnated Angel) and Dulio Gesualdo (one of the strongest exorcists, now Michael's "Joker") were successful, providing Heaven with new champions of faith. Every new reincarnated Angel under Michael is a step toward restoring celestial balance, even if slowly. Michael leads with humility and sacrifice, even willing to risk himself for the good of all worlds – as we later see when a final draconic threat demands his ultimate self-sacrifice.
Interference from Other Factions in the Fall of the Angels
The decline in angelic power didn't occur in isolation – other factions played key roles in worsening (or sometimes softening) Heaven's condition. During the Great War, Devils and Fallen Angels were the Angels' direct enemies, causing massive casualties. The Devils, led by the original Four Great Maous, fought fiercely against the celestial armies, taking down many angels in battle. In turn, they also lost their elite – all four Satans perished – resulting in a mutually destructive stalemate. The Fallen Angels, who were ex-angels following Azazel, entered the war pursuing their own goals (such as seizing Heaven). Though smaller in number, the Fallen inflicted heavy losses, exploiting their knowledge of angelic combat techniques (since they were once pure angels themselves).
After the war, interference continued in various forms. For centuries, the three factions remained locked in isolated skirmishes and mutual distrust. For example, one of the Fallen leaders, Kokabiel, deliberately tried to restart the war in recent times. He stole the sacred Excalibur swords and caused terror in Kuoh, loudly declaring that both God and the Maous were dead, hoping to break the fragile truce. His plan was to force Angels and Devils to clash again, expecting the Fallen to benefit amidst the chaos. Kokabiel even personally fought new generation servants (like Xenovia and the Occult Club) and boasted of Heaven's weakness without God. Fortunately, his attempt failed, but it highlights the ongoing threat posed by rebellious Fallen Angels to the already weakened heavenly side.
Beyond individuals like Kokabiel, the Fallen faction adopted subtle "bleeding" tactics against the angels. Unable to increase their own numbers easily, many Fallen sought to tempt angels into sin, causing them to fall and join Grigori. Records indicate that after the peace, the Fallen "sought to repopulate their race by seducing Angels (including reincarnated ones) to fall to their side or mix their blood with humans and demons." Every successful temptation was a double loss for Heaven: one less pure Angel and one more enemy among the Fallen. Guardian Angels became targets of carefully laid traps – through forbidden passion or ideological manipulation – hoping they'd break their vows. There were even Nephilim and hybrids, children of Fallen Angels and humans, who strengthened the Fallen while Heaven's family slowly fractured.
The Devils, on their part, moderated their interference post-war – at least officially. The new generation of demon leaders (such as Sirzechs and Serafall) favored peace and reconstruction, cooperating with Michael and Azazel to avoid mutual annihilation. However, not all Devils agreed with this stance. Extremist factions, known as the Old Satan Faction, rejected peace and, aligning with evil humans and other beings, formed the seeds of the Khaos Brigade. This terrorist organization gathered various disgruntled races – exiled Devils, rogue Fallen, human magicians, and even dissenting angels – all seeking to plunge the world into chaos and overthrow the fragile alliance of the Three Factions. Through the Khaos Brigade, angels faced indirect but deadly threats. The Brigade infiltrated Heaven (facilitated by the aforementioned traitor angels) and even attempted to sabotage celestial facilities. In a dramatic episode, the Qlippoth faction (led by Rizevim, a demon of Lucifer's old blood) invaded Heaven itself, inciting a rebellion among disgruntled exorcists. Imagine the shock: sacred domains attacked from within by those meant to serve them. The assault shook Heaven's defenses and exposed how vulnerable the angels were to organized enemies. Though the invasion was contained, the psychological and structural damage made it clear that the angels' decline was actively exploited by secret demonic factions.
Lastly, Dragons and other draconic entities must be mentioned as interfering factors. During the original Great War, the legendary Heavenly Dragons – Ddraig the Red Emperor and Albion the White Emperor – weren't on any faction's side (sealed into artifacts due to their destructive rampages). However, in the post-war period, a far worse dragon became linked to Heaven's fate: the Beast 666, Trihexa, an apocalyptic creature of unimaginable power. Trihexa belongs to no faction, a monster whose only instinct is to destroy everything – Heaven, Hell, and the human world alike. In ancient times, God Himself risked His life to seal Trihexa, using thousands of forbidden seals to trap it at "the end of the world." This heavily implies that God entered the Great War already weakened, having spent a massive amount of His power to bind this Beast. In fact, sources reveal that the effort to seal Trihexa left God so drained that He succumbed during the subsequent war. In other words, a primordial dragon indirectly caused God's death by forcing Him to sacrifice Himself to prevent the end of the world. This is a powerful symbolic detail: the Creator fell not only by the hands of rival armies, but also due to the burden of containing a force of absolute chaos.